ctV. ^yftur*v-&  c/Z&kA&riJ 


£+>p**A/L. 


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70° Long.  E.  of  Greenwich  75 


Loudon:  Macmillan  &  Co. 


Walker  $  Boutall  n< 


MACAULAY 


WARREN    HASTINGS 

WITH 

NOTES   AND   APPENDICES 


BY 

K.   DEIGHTON 


ICrrnirrtt 
MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    Ltd. 

NEW  YORK  :    THE  MACMILLAN   CO. 
1896 

All  rights  reserved 


-PS'473 


First  Edition  1893 
Reprinted  1896. 


HENRY  MORSE  STEPHENS 


GLASGOW:    PRINTED   AT  THE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
BY   ROBERT   MACLEHOSE   AND   CO. 


ts 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface, vii 

Warren  Hastings, 1 

Notes, 131 

Appendices — 

I.— The  Rohilla  War, 186 

II. — Hastings,  Impey,  and  Nand  Kumar, .         .         .  207 
III. — The  Impeachment  of  Impey,      .         .         .         .213 

IV. — The  Rise,  Growth,  and  Decline  of  the  Maratha 

Powers, 225 

Index  to  Notes, 232 


511616 


PREFACE. 

In  his  work  entitled  The  Reign  of  Queen  Victoria, 
'  India,1  Sir  John  Strachey  remarks,  "  Sir  Henry  Maine 
has  pointed  out  with  admirable  truth  the  consequences 
in  India  of  the  fact  that  English  classical  literature 
towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  was  t  saturated  with 
party  politics.'  '  This,'  he  says,  ' would  have  been  a  less 
serious  fact  if,  at  this  epoch,  one  chief  topic  of  the 
great  writers  and  rhetoricians,  of  Burke  and  Sheridan, 
of  Fox  and  Francis,  had  not  been  India  itself.  I 
have  to  doubt  that  the  view  of  Indian  government 
taken  at  the  end  of  the  century  by  Englishmen  whose 
works  and  speeches  are  held  to  be  models  of  English 
style  has  had  deep  effect  on  the  mind  of  the  educated 
Indian  of  this  day.  We  are  only  now  beginning  to 
see  how  excessive^  inaccurate  were  their  statements 
of  fact  and  how  one-sided  were  their  judgments.' 
These  remarks  of  Sir  Henry  Maine  point  to  what  I 
have  long  believed  to  be  a  serious  misfortune — the 
non-existence  of  any  history  of  British  India,  which 
is  trustworthy  and  complete  in  its  facts,  and  which 
at  the  same  time  possesses  the  essential  quality  of 
literary  excellence.  Since  the  earlier  part  of  the 
present  century  the  old  stories  of  the  crimes  by  which 


viii  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

the  establishment  of  our  power  in  India  was  attended 
have  been  passed  on  from  one  author  to  another.  .  .  . 
These  calumnies  have  caused  and  are  still  causing  no 
little  mischief  both  in  England  and  India.  Thousands 
of  excellent  people  are  filled  with  righteous  indignation 
when  they  read  of  the  atrocious  acts  of  Clive  and 
Hastings,  the  judicial  murder  of  Nandkumar,  the  ex- 
termination of  the  Rohillas,  the  plunder  of  the  Begums. 
No  suspicion  of  the  truth  reaches  them  that  these 
horrors  never  occurred,  and  the  fear  can  hardly  be 
repressed  that  there  may  be  some  foundation  even 
now  for  the  charges  of  Indian  misgovernment  and 
oppression.  .  .  .  This  false  history  is  systematically 
taught  by  ourselves,  and  believed  by  the  educated 
natives  of  India  to  be  true.  It  is  impossible  that 
this  should  not  have  a  serious  effect  on  their  feelings 
towards  their  English  rulers."  By  all  who  are  con- 
versant with  the  progress  of  education  in  India,  and 
perhaps  by  none  so  readily  as  those  who  have  had 
a  professional  part  in  it,  these  words  will  be  endorsed 
as  not  one  whit  exaggerated.  And  if  such  be  really 
the  outcome  of  our  "enlightened  policy,"  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  band  by  whom  misconception  has  been 
propagated,  stands  Macaulay.  His  two  celebrated 
Indian  essays  comprehend  nearly  the  whole  of  that 
period  regarding  which,  while  error  came  so  easily, 
the  truth — at  all  events  till  lately — was  difficult  of 
discovery,  that  period  for  which  the  records  were  the 
records  of  a  mercantile  corporation  primarily  con- 
cerned in  making  money.  The  fierce  light  that  beats 
upon  a  modern  administration  was  unknown  to  the 
Honourable  East  India  Company.     Its  servants  thought 


PREFACE.  ix 

little  of  posterity,  cared  nothing  that  the  history  they 
were  making  should,  on  its  transfusion  into  narrative, 
be  ordered  and  marshalled  with  the  stately  precision 
by  which  a  more  self-conscious  regime  guards  itself 
against  detraction  and  misunderstanding.  But  the 
indifference  of  these  pioneers  of  empire  has  helped  to 
blur  and  blot  the  fair  fame  of  many  of  their  own 
number;  and  if  historians  have  grievously  caricatured 
both  men  and  measures,  there  is  for  them  at  least 
the  excuse  that  their  distortion  of  objects  is  due  in 
perhaps  less  degree  to  dimness  of  vision  than  to 
haziness  of  the  medium  in  which  the  work  had  to  be 
done.  That  there  has  also  been  deliberate  injustice 
cannot,  I  fear,  be  denied.  Macaulay  himself  was  not 
seldom  biassed  by  political  sympathies  ;  though  his 
worst  shortcomings  are  the  shortcomings  of  one  who 
has  placed  unwise  confidence  in  apparently  trustworthy 
guides.  Mill  is  a  much  greater  sinner.  But  Mill  has 
few  charms,  and  his  narrative  would  never  stir  so 
much  as  a  spasm  of  enthusiastic  belief  or  kindle  the 
faintest  glow  of  fervid  partisanship.  With  Macaulay 
the  case  is  very  different.  The  transparent  lucidity  of 
his  style,  the  rich  colouring,  the  dramatic  vividness, 
the  apt  illustration,  the  swift  assemblage  of  images  so 
various  and  yet  so  cumulative  in  their  effect,  his 
learning  worn  so  lightly  and  yet  so  massive  in  its 
strength,  the  splendour  with  which  he  lights  up  a 
battle-piece  or  the  pageantry  in  which  he  decks  some 
time-honoured  ceremonial,  his  copious  vocabulary  of 
invective  and  scorn,  his  hatred  of  meanness  and  in- 
justice, his  lofty  imagination,  "that  noble  faculty,"  as 
he  himself  says  in  regard  to  Burke,  "whereby  man  is 


x  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

able  to  live  in  the  past  and  in  the  future,  in  the 
distant  and  in  the  unreal" — combine  to  throw  over 
whatever  he  writes  a  glamour  that  no  one  can  resist, 
least  of  all  those  in  whom  the  pulse  of  life  still  throbs 
with  full-toned  animation,  with  whom  belief  is  still  a 
joy,  and  hero-worship  a  necessity.  While,  therefore,  of 
those  who  have  to  study  his  essays  the  number  is 
small  as  compared  with  the  number  who  have  to 
study  dry  histories, — and  the  histories  of  India  are 
probably  unique  in  their  dryness,  not  only  to  English 
but  to  Indian  readers, — the  hold  which  he  obtains  is 
immeasurably  greater  and  more  enduring  than  that 
which  is  taken  by  the  laborious  chroniclers  of  weari- 
some detail  padded  with  trite  reflection,  the  compilers 
of  narrative  that  has  neither  foreground  nor  back- 
ground, neither  proportion  nor  perspective.  A  writer 
like  Macaulay  makes  converts,  who  in  their  turn  find 
disciples.  To  hand  down  his  doctrines  becomes  a 
religion.  His  very  fallacies  are  the  shibboleth  of  a 
school.  Add  to  this  that  his  reputation  as  a  scholar, 
as  a  historian,  as  a  jurist,  still  looms  as  large  as  ever, 
and  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  prestige  of  this 
nature  should  keep  loyal  those  who  might  waver,  and 
hold  back  those  who  would  venture  to  criticize.  If, 
then,  these  two  essays  are  to  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  students  and  set  as  subjects  of  an  examina- 
tion, it  cannot  be  done  with  safety  unless  at  the  same 
time  an  endeavour  is  made  to  show  wherein  their 
statements  are  inaccurate,  and  how  the  views  put 
forward  in  them  assume  an  altered  colouring  from  the 
light  of  fuller  information.  The  essay  on  Hastings 
more  especially  needs  such  rectification,  and  this  for- 


PREFACE.  xi 

tunately  is  possible  with  the  help  of  three  works  of 
recent  publication,  Sir  John  Strachey's  account  of  the 
Eohilla  War,  Sir  James  Stephen's  examination  of  the 
Nand  Kumar  myth  and  the  impeachment  of  Impey, 
and  the  selections  from  Official  Eecords  so  ably  edited 
by  Professor  Forrest.  From  the  two  former  works  I 
have  made  copious  extracts,  and  I  wish  that  every 
student  had  the  opportunity  and  the  leisure  to  study 
them  in  their  entirety.  Another  work  which  I  have 
found  most  useful  is  Sir  Alfred  Lyall's  Warren 
Hastings.  This,  if  possible,  should  be  closely  com- 
pared with  Macaulay's  essay.  It  is  not  long, — about 
two  hundred  pages, — but  it  gives  with  unusual  clear- 
ness a  complete  view  of  Hastings'  administration.  It 
has  another  characteristic,  even  more  important  than 
clearness,  viz.,  impartiality.  I  do  not  say  "  studied 
impartiality,"  for  the  impartiality  strikes  one  as  some- 
thing so  natural  as  to  be  part  of  the  man.  Captain 
Trotter's  biography  in  the  "Rulers  of  India"  series 
will  also  be  read  with  much  interest.  If  somewhat  of 
the  nature  of  a  brief  for  the  defence,  and  scarcely 
displaying  the  same  breadth  of  treatment  with  Sir 
Alfred  Lyall's  work,  it  is  fuller  in  detail  and  is  based 
on  the  firm  foundation  of  the  original  records  which, 
as  I  have  already  mentioned,  Professor  Forrest  has 
lately  edited.  Lastly,  an  admirable  article  in  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  H.  G.  Keene,  brings  into  very  moderate  compass 
the  events  of  Warren  Hastings'  life  and  official 
career. 

In  my  Notes  there  will  be  found,  I  hope,  sufficient 
explanation   of  verbal    difficulties  and   historical  refer- 


xii  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

ences.  But  certain  matters  are  too  long  for  mere 
Notes,  and  these  I  have  reserved  for  Appendices.  The 
subjects  there  discussed  are  (1)  The  Rohilla  War :  (2) 
Hastings,  Impey,  and  Nand  Kumar :  (3)  The  Impeach- 
ment of  Impey ;  and  to  these  I  have .  added  a  short 
sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Maratha  powers. 


WARREN   HASTINGS. 

Tins  book  seems  to  have  been  manufactured  in  pursuance 
of  a  contract,  by  which  the  representatives  of  Warren 
Hastings,  on  the  one  part,  bound  themselves  to  furnish 
papers,  and  Mr.  Gleig,  on  the  other  part,  bound  himself  to 
furnish  praise.  It  is  but  just  to  say  that  the  covenants  on 
both  sides  have  been  most  faithfully  kept ;  and  the  result 
is  before  us  in  the  form  of  three  big  bad  volumes,>  full  of 
undigested  correspondence  and  undiscerning  panegyric. 

If  it  were  worth  while  to  examine  this  performance  in 
detail,  we  could  easily  make  a  long  article  by  merely  pointing  10 
out  inaccurate  statements,  inelegant  expressions,  and  im- 
moral doctrines.  But  it  would  be  idle  to  waste  criticism  on 
a  bookmaker ;  and,  whatever  credit  Mr.  Gleig  may  have 
justly  earned  by  former  works,  it  is  as  a  bookmaker,  and 
nothing  more,  that  he  now  comes  before  us.  More  eminent 
men  than  Mr.  Gleig  have  written  nearly  as  ill  as  he,  when 
they  have  stooped  to  similar  drudgery.  It  would  be  unjust 
to  estimate  Goldsmith  by  the  History  of  Greece,  or  Scott  by 
the  Life  of  Napoleon.  Mr.  Gleig  is  neither  a  Goldsmith  nor 
a  Scott ;  but  it  would  be  unjust  to  deny  that  he  is  capable  20 
of  something  better  than  these  Memoirs.  It  would  also,  we 
hope  and  believe,  be  unjust  to  charge  any  Christian  minister 
with  the  guilt  of  deliberately  maintaining  some  propositions 
which  we  find  in  this  book.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
Mr.  Gleig  has  written  several  passages,  which  bear  the  same 


$  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

relation  to  the  Prince  of  Machiavelli  that  the  Prince  of 
Machiavelli  bears  to  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  which 
would  excite  amazement  in  a  den  of  robbers,  or  on  board  of 
a  schooner  of  pirates.  But  we  are  willing  to  attribute  these 
offences  to  haste,  to  thoughtlessness,  and  to  that  disease  of 
the  understanding  which  may  be  called  the  Furor  Bio- 
graphicus,  and  which  is  to  writers  of  lives  what  the  goitre 
is  to  an  Alpine  shepherd,  or  dirt-eating  to  a  Negro  slave. 

We  are  inclined  to  think  that  we  shall  best  meet  the    ** 

10  wishes  of  our  readers,  if,  instead  of  dwelling  on  the  faults 
of  this  book,  we  attempt  to  give,  in  a  way  necessarily  hasty 
and  imperfect,  our  own  view  of  the  life  and  character  of  Mr. 
Hastings.  Our  feeling  towards  him  is  not  exactly  that  of 
the  House  of  Commons  which  impeached  him  in  1787  ; 
neither  is  it  that  of  the  House  of  Commons  which  uncovered 
and  stood  up  to  receive  him  in  1813.  He  had  great  qualities, 
and  he  rendered  great  services  to  the  state.  But  to  repre- 
sent him  as  a  man  of  stainless  virtue  is  to  make  him 
ridiculous  ;   and  from  regard  for  his  memory,  if  from  no 

20  other  feeling,  his  friends  would  have  done  well  to  lend  no 
countenance  to  such  puerile  adulation.  We  believe  that,  if 
he  were  now  living,  he  would  have  sufficient  judgment  and 
sufficient  greatness  of  mind  to  wish  to  be  shown  as  he  was. 
He  must  have  known  that  there  were  dark  spots  on  h}s 
fame.  He  might  also  have  felt  with  pride  that  the  splendour 
of  his  fame  would  bear  many  spots.  He  would  have  pre- 
/v^T  f erred,  we  are  confident,  even  the  severity  of  Mr.  Mill  to  the 
puffing  of  Mr  Gleig.  He  would  have  wished  posterity  to 
have  a  likeness  of  him,  though  an  unfavourable  likeness, 

30  rather  than  a  daub  at  once  insipid  and  unnatural,  resembling 
neither  him  nor  any  body  else.  "  Paint  me  as  I  am,"  said 
Oliver  Cromwell,  while  sitting  to  young  Lely.  "  If  you 
leave  out  the  scars  and  wrinkles,  I  will  not  pay  you  a 
shilling." O Even  in  such  a  trifle,  the  great  Protector  showed'/ 
both  his  good  sense  and  his  magnanimity.  He  did  not  wish 
all  that  was  characteristic  in  his  countenance  to  be  lost,  in 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  3 

the  vain  attempt  to  give  him  the  regular  features  and  smooth 
blooming  cheeks  of  the  curl-pated  minions  of  James  the 
First.  He  was  content  that  his  face  should  go  forth  marked 
with  all  the  blemishes  which  had  been  put  on  it  by  time,  by 
war,  by  sleepless  nights,  by  anxiety,  perhaps  by  remorse ; ' ,  , 
but  with  valour,  policy,  authority,  and  public  care  written  in  _v 
all  its  princely  lines.  If  men  truly  great  knew  their  own 
interest,  it  is  thus  that  they  would  wish  their  minds  to  be 
portrayed. 

"Warren  Hastings  sprang  from  an  ancient  and  illustrious  10 
race.  It  has  been  affirmed  that  his  pedigree  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  great  Danish  sea-king,  whose  sails  were  long  the 
terror  of  both  coasts  of  the  British  Channel,  and  who,  after 
many  fierce  and  doubtful  struggles,  yielded  at  last  to  the 
valour  and  genius  of  Alfred.  But  the  undoubted  splendour 
of  the  line  of  Hastings  needs  no  illustration  from  fable. 
One  branch  of  that  line  wore,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
coronet  of  Pembroke.  From  another  branch  sprang  the 
renowned  Chamberlain,  the  faithful  adherent  of  the  White 
Eose,  whose  fate  has  furnished  so  striking  a  theme  both  to  20 
poets  and  to  historians.  His  family  received  from  the 
Tudors  the  earldom  of  Huntingdon,  which,  after  long  dis- 
possession, was  regained  in  our  time  by  a  series  of  events 
scarcely  paralleled  in  romance. 

The  lords  of  the  manor  of  Daylesford,  in  Worcestershire, 
claimed  to  be  considered  as  the  heads  of  this  distinguished 
family.     The  main  stock,  indeed,  prospered  less  than  some 
of  the  younger  shoots.     But  the  Daylesford  family,  though 
not  ennobled,  was  wealthy  and  highly  considered,  till,  about 
two  hundred  years  ago,  it  was  overwhelmed  by  the  great  30 
ruin  of  the  civil  war.     The  Hastings  of  that  time  was  a         y 
zealous  cavalier.      He  raised  money  on  his  lands,  sent  his  *"** 
plate  to  the  mint  at  Oxford,  joined  the  royal  army,  and, 
after  spending  half  his  property   in    the    cause    of    King 
Charles,  was  glad  to  ransom  himself  by  making  over  most      f  c  a 
of  the  remaining  half  to  Speaker  Lenthal.     The  old  seat  at 


4  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Daylesford  still  remained  in  the  family  ;  but  it  could  no 
longer  be  kept  up  ;  and  in  the  following  generation  it  was 
sold  to  a  merchant  of  London,  ~\^x* 

Before  this  transfer  took  place,  the  last  Hastings  of 
Daylesford  had  presented  his  second  son  to  the  rectory  of 
the  parish  in  which  the  ancient  residence  of  the  family 
stood.  The  living  was  of  little  value  ;  and  the  situation  of 
the  poor  clergyman,  after  the  sale  of  the  estate,  was  deplor- 
able.     He  was  constantly  engaged   in   lawsuits  about  his 

10  tithes  with  the  new  lord  of  the  manor,  and  was  at  length 
utterly  ruined.  His  eldest  son,  Howard,  a  well-conducted 
young  man,  obtained  a  place  in  the  Customs.  The  second 
son,  Pynaston,  an  idle  worthless  boy,  married  before  he  was 
sixteen,  lost  his  wife  in  two  years,  and  died  in  the  West 
Indies,  leaving  to  the  care  of  his  unfortunate  father  a  little 
orphan,  destined  to  strange  and  memorable  vicissitudes  of 
fortune. 

Warren,  the  son  of  Pynaston,  was  born  on  the  sixth  of 
December,  1732.     His  mother  died  a  few  days  later,  and  he 

20  was  left  dependent  on  his  distressed  grandfather.  The  child 
was  early  sent  to  the  village  school,  where  he  learned  his 
letters  on  the  same  bench  with  the  sons  of  the  peasantry. 
Nor  did  any  thing  in  his  garb  or  fare  indicate  that  his  life 
was  to  take  a  widely  different  course  from  that  of  the  youug 
rustics  with  whom  he  studied  and  played.  But  no  cloud 
could  overcast  the  dawn  of  so  much  genius  and  so  much 
ambition.  The  very  ploughmen  observed,  and  long  remem- 
bered, how  kindly  little  Warren  took  to  his  book.  The  daily 
sight  of  the  lands  which  his  ancestors  had  possessed,  and 

30  which  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  strangers,  filled  his 
young  brain  with  wild  fancies  and  projects.  C?He  loved  to 
hear  stories  of  the  wealth  and  greatness  of  his  progenitors, 
of  their  splendid  housekeeping,  their  loyalty,  and  their 
valour.  On  one  bright  summer  day,  the  boy,  then  just 
seven  years  old,  lay  on  the  bank  of  the  rivulet  which-Jows 
through  the  old  domain  of  his  house  to  join  the  Isis.    [.There, 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  5 

as  threescore  and  ten  years  later  he  told  the  tale,  rose  in  his 
mind  a  scheme  which,  through  all  the  turns  of  his  eventful 
career,  was  never  abandoned.  He  would  recover  the  estate 
which  had  belonged  to  his  fathers.  He  would  be  Hastings 
of  Daylesford.  This  purpose,  formed  in  infancy  and  poverty, 
grew  stronger  as  his  intellect  expanded  and  as  his  fortune 
rose.  He  pursued  his  plan  with  that  calm  but  indomitable 
force  of  will^which  was  the  most  striking  peculiarity  of  his 
character,  nj^hen,  under  a  tropical  sun,  he  ruled  fifty 
millions  of  Asiatics,  his  hopes,  amidst  all  the  cares  of  war,  10 
finance,  and  legislation,  still  pointed  to  Daylesford.  JAnd 
when  his  long  public  life,  so  singularly  chequered  with  good  ' 
and  evil,  with  glory  and  obloquy,  had  at  length  closed  for 
ever,  it  was  to  Daylesford  that  he  retired  to  die. 

When  he  was  eight  years  old,  his  uncle  Howard  deter- 
mined to  ta^fi  charge  of  him,  and  to  give  him  a  liberal 
education.  /jThe  boy  went  up  to  London,  and  was  sent  to 
a  school  at  Newington,  where  he  was  well  taught  but  ill  fed. 
He  always  attributed  the  smallness  of  his  stature  to  the 
hard  and  scanty  fare  of  this  seminary.  At  ten  he  was  re-  20 
moved  to  Westminster  School,  then  flourishing  under  the 
care  of  Dr.  Nichols.  Vinny  Bourne,  as  his  pupils  affection- 
ately called  him,  was  one  of  the  masters.  Churchill,  Colman, 
Lloyd,  Cumberland,  Cowper,  were  among  the  studentsj  With 
Cowper,  Hastings  formed  a  friendship  which  neither  the 
lapse  of  time,  nor  a  wide  dissimilarity  of  opinions  and  pur- 
suits, could  wholly  dissolve.  It  does  not  appear  that  they 
ever  met  after  they  had  grown  to  manhood.    But  forty  years  * 

later,  when  the  voices  of  many  great  orators  were&rying  for  3/ 
vengeance  on  the  oppressor  of  India,  the  shy  and  secluded  30 
poet  could  image  to  himself  Hastings  the  Governor-General 
only  as  the  Hastings  with  whom  he  had  rowed  on  the 
Thames,  and  played  in  the  cloister,  and  refused  to  believe 
that  so  good-tempered  a  fellow  could  have  done  anything 
very  wrong.  His  own  life  had  been  spent  in  praying,  musing, 
and  rhyming  among  the  water-lilies  of  the  Ouse.     He  had 


6  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

preserved  in  no  common  measure  the  innocence  of  childhood. 
His  spirit  had  indeed  been  severely  tried,  but  not  by  tempta- 
tions which  impelled  him  to  any  gross  violation  of  the  rules 
of  social  morality.  He  had  never  been  attacked  by  combina- 
tions of  powerful  and  deadly  enemies.  He  had  never  been 
compelled  to  make  a  choice  between  innocence  and  greatness, 
between  crime  and  ruin.  Firmly  as  he  held  in  theory  the 
doctrine  of  human  depravity,  his  habits  were  such  that  he 
was  unable  to  conceive  how  far  from  the  path  of  right  even 

10  kind  and  noble  natures  may  be  hurried  by  the  rage  of  conflict 
and  the  lust  of  dominion. 

Hastings  had  another  associate  at  Westminster  of  whom 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  make  frequent  mention,  Elijah 
Impey.  We  know  little  about  their  school  days.  But,  we 
think,  we  may  safely  venture  to  guess  that,  whenever 
Hastings  wished  to  play  any  trick  more  than  usually 
naughty,  he  hired  Impey  with  a  tart  or  a  ball  to  act  as 
fag  in  the  worst  part  of  the  prank. 

Warren  was  distinguished  among  his  comrades  as  an  ex- 

20  cellent  swimmer,  boatman,  and  scholar.     At  fourteen  he  was 
first  in  the  examination  for  the  foundation.     His  name  in 
gilded  letters  on  the  walls  of  the  dormitory  still  attests  his 
victory  over  many  older  competitors.     He  stayed  two  years 
longer  at  the  school,  and  was  looking  forward  to  a  student- 
ship at    Christ    Church,   when  an   event  happened   which 
changed   the   whole   course  of  his  life.     Howard  Hastings       . 
died,  bequeathing  his  nephew  to  the  care  of  a  friend  and      r 
distant  relation,  named  Chiswick. '  This  gentleman,  though "'/ 
he  did  not  absolutely  refuse  the  charge,  was  desirous  to  rid 

30  himself  of  it  as  soon  as  possible.  Dr.  Nichols  made  strong 
remonstrances  against  the  cruelty  of  interrupting  the  studies 
of  a  youth  who  seemed  likely  to  be  one  of  the  first  scholars 
of  the  age.  He  even  offered  to  bear  the  expense  of  sending  3fc£ 
his  favourite  pupil  to  Oxford.  But  Mr.  Chiswick  was  in-  t 
flexible.  He  thought  the  years  which  had  already  been 
wasted  on  hexameters  and  pentameters  quite  sufficient.     He 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  7 

had  it  in  his  power  to  obtain  for  the  lad  a  writership  in  the 
service  of  the  East  India  Company.  Whether  the  young 
adventurer,  when  once  shipped  off,  made  a  fortune,  or  died  of 
a  liver  complaint,  he  equally  ceased  to  be  a  burden  to  any 
body.  Warren  was  accordingly  removed  from  Westminster 
school,  and  placed  for  a  few  months  at  a  commercial  academy 
to  study  arithmetic  and  book-keeping,  In  January,  1750,  a 
few  days  after  he  had  completed  his  seventeenth  year,  he 
sailed  for  Bengal,  and  arrived  at  his  destination  in  the 
October  following.  10 

He  was  immediately  placed  at  a  desk  in  the  Secretary's 
office  at  Calcutta,  and  laboured  there  during  two  years.  Fort 
WTilliam  was  then  a  purely  commercial  settlement.  In  the 
south  of  India  the  encroaching  policy  of  Dupleix  had  trans- 
formed the  servants  of  the  English  Company,  against  their 
will,  into  diplomatists  and  generals.  The  war  of  the  succes- 
sion was  raging  in  the  Carnatic  ;  and  the  tide  had  been 
suddenly  turned  against  the  French  by  the  genius  of  young 
Robert  Clive.  But  in  Bengal  the  European  settlers,  at  peace 
with  the  natives  and  with  each  other,  were  wholly  occupied  20 
with  ledgers  and  bills  of  lading. 

After  two  years  passed  in  keeping  accounts  at  Calcutta, 
Hastings  was  sent  up  the  country  to  Cossimbazar,  a  town 
which  lies  on  the  Hoogley,  about  a  mile  from  Moorshedabad, 
and  which  then  bore  to  Moorshedabad  a  relation,  if  we  may 
compare  small  things  with  great,  such  as  the  city  of  London 
bears  to  Westminster.  Moorshedabad  was  the  abode  of  the 
prince  who,  by  an  authority  ostensibly  derived  from  the 
Mogul,  but  really  independent,  ruled  the  three  great  pro- 
vinces of  Bengal,  Orissa,  and  Bahar.  At  Moorshedabad ^ere  3(f' 
the  court,  the  haram,  and  the  public  offices.  Cossimbazar 
was  a  port  and  a  place  of  trade,  renowned  for  the  quantity 
and  excellence  of  the  silks  which  were  sold  in  its  marts,  and 
constantly  receiving  and  sending  forth  fleets  of  richly  laden 
barges.  At  this  important  point,  the  Company  had  estab- 
lished a  small  factory  subordinate  to  that  of  Fort  William 


8  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Here,  during  several  years,  Hastings  was  employed  in  making 
bargains  for  stuffs  with  native  brokers.  While  he  was  thus 
engaged,  Sura j all  Dowlah  succeeded  to  the  government,  and 
declared  war  against  the  English.  The  defenceless  settle- 
ment of  Cossimbazar,  lying  close  to  the  tyrant's  capital,  was 
instantly  seized.  Hastings  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Moorshed- 
abad,  but,  in  consequence  of  the  humane  intervention  of  the 
servants  of  the  Dutch  Company,  was  treated  with  indulgence. 
Meanwhile  the  Nabob  marched  on  Calcutta ;  the  governor 

10  and  the  commandant  fled  ;  the  town  and  citadel  were  taken, 
and  most  of  the  English  prisoners  perished  in  the  Black 
Hole. 

In  these  events  originated  the  greatness  of  Warren 
Hastings.  The  fugitive  governor  and  his  companions  had 
taken  refuge  on  the  dreary  islet  of  Fulda,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Hoogley.  They  were  naturally  desirous  to  obtain  full 
information  respecting  the  proceedings  of  the  Nabob ;  and  no 
person  seemed  so  likely  to  furnish  it  as  Hastings,  who  was  a 
prisoner  at  large  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 

20  court.  He  thus  became  a  diplomatic  agent,  and  soon  estab- 
lished a  high  character  for  ability  and  resolution.  The 
treason  which  at  a  later  period  was  fatal  to  Surajah  Dowlah 
was  already  in  progress ;  and  Hastings  was  admitted  to  the 
deliberations  of  the  conspirators.  But  the  time  for  striking 
had  not  arrived.  It  was  necessary  to  postpone  the  execution 
of  the  design  ;  and  Hastings,  who  was  now  in  extreme  peril, 
fled  to  Fulda.  ^ 

O  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Fulda,  the  expedition  from  Madras,  ** 
commanded  by  Clive,  appeared  in  the  Hoogley.     Warren, 

30  young,  intrepid,  and  excited  probably  by  the  example  oF  the 
Commander  of  the  forces  who,  h?ving  like  himself  been  a 
mercantile  agent  of  the  Company,  had  been  turned  by  public 
calamities  into  a  soldier,  determined  to  serve  in  the  ranks. 
During  the  early  operations  of  the  war  he  carried  a  musket. 
But  the  quick  eye  of  Clive  soon  perceived  that  the  head  of 
the  young  volunteer  would  be  more  useful  than  his  arm. 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  9 

When,  after  the  battle  of  Plassey,  Meer  Jaffier  was  pro- 
claimed Nabob  of  Bengal,  Hastings  was  appointed  to  reside 
at  the  court  of  the  new  prince  as  agent  for  the  Company. 

He  remained  at  Moorshedabad  till  the  year  1761,  when 
he  became  a  member  of  Council,  and  was  consequently 
forced  to  reside  at  Calcutta.  This  was  during  the  interval 
between  Clive's  first  and  second  administration,  an  interval 
which  has  left  on  the  fame  of  the  East  India  Company  a 
stain,  not  wholly  effaced  by  many  years  of  just  and  humane 
government.  Mr.  Yansittart,  the  Governor,  was  at  the  10 
head  of  a  new  and  anomalous  empire.  <10n  the  one  side  was 
a  band  of  English  functionaries,  daring,  intelligent,  eager 
to  be  rich.  On  the  other  side  was  a  great  native  population, 
helpless,  timid,  accustomed  to  crouch  under  oppression.} 
To  keep  the  stronger  race  from  preying  on  the  weaker 
was  an  undertaking  which  tasked  to  the  utmost  the  talents 
and  energy  of  Clive.  Vansittart,  with  fair  intentions,  was 
a  feeble  and  inefficient  ruler.  The  master  caste,  as  was 
natural,  broke  loose  from  all  restraint ;  and  then  was  seen 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  most  frightful  of  all  spectacles,  20 
the  strength  of  civilisation  without  its  mercy.  To  all 
other  despotism  there  is  a  check,  imperfect  indeed,  and 
liable  to  gross  abuse,  but  still  sufficient  to  preserve  society 
from  the  last  extreme  of  misery.  '  A  time  comes  when  the 
evils  of  submission  are  obviously  greater  than  those  of 
resistance,  when  fear  itself  begets  a  sort  of  courage,  when  -"* 
a  convulsive  burst  of  popular  rage  and  despair  warns 
tyrants  not  to  presume  too  far  on  the  patience  of  mankind. 
But  against  misgovernment  such  as  then  afflicted  Bengal 
it  was  impossible  to  struggle.  The  superior  intelligence  30 
and  energy  of  the  dominant  class  made  their  power  irre- 
sistible A  war  of  Bengalees  against  Englishmen  was  like 
a  war  of  sheep  against  wolves,  of  men  against  daemons. 
The  only  protection  which  the  conquered  could  find  was 
in  the  moderation,  the  clemency,  the  enlarged  policy  of  the 
conquerors.     That  protection,  at  a  later  period,  they  found. 


10  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

But  at  first  English  power  came  among  them  unaccompanied 
by  English  morality.  There  was  an  interval  between  the 
time  at  which  they  became  our  subjects,  and  the  time  at 
which  we  began  to  reflect  that  we  were  bound  to  discharge 
towards  them  the  duties  of  rulers.  During  that  interval 
the  business  of  a  servant  of  the  Company  was  simply  to 
wring  out  of  the  natives  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  as  speedily  as  possible,  that  he  might  return 
home  before  his  constitution  had   suffered   from  the  heat, 

10  to  marry  a  peer's  daughter,  to  buy  rotten  boroughs  in 
Cornwall,  and  to  give  balls  in  St.  James's  Square.  Of  the 
conduct  of  Hastings  at  this  time,  little  is  known  ;  but  the 
little  that  is  known,  and  the  circumstance  that  little  is 
known,  must  be  considered  as  honourable  to  him.  He 
could  not  protect  the  natives  :  all  that  he  could  do  was  to 
abstain  from  plundering  and  oppressing  them ;  and  this 
he  appears  to  have  done.  It  is  certain  that  at  this  time 
he  continued  poor  ;  and  it  is  equally  certain,  that  by  cruelty 
and  dishonesty  he  might  easily   have  become   rich.     It   is 

20  certain  that  he  was  never  charged  with  having  borne  a 
share  in  the  worst  abuses  which  then  prevailed  ;  and  it  is 
almost  equally  certain  that,  if  he  had  borne  a  share  in  those 
abuses,  the  able  and  bitter  enemies  who  afterwards  perse- 
cuted him  would  not  have  failed  to  discover  and  to  proclaim 
his  guilt.  [The  keen,  severe,  and  even  malevolent  scrutiny  "^ 
to  which  his  whole  public  life  was  subjected,  a  scrutiny 
unparalleled,  as  we  believe,  in  the  history  of  mankind,  is 
in  one  respect  advantageous  to  his  reputation.  It  brought 
many  lamentable  blemishes  to  light ;   but  it  entitles  him 

30  to  be  considered  pure  from  every  blemish  which  has  not 
been  brought  to  light. 

The  truth  is  that  the  temptations  to  w;hich  so  many 
English  functionaries  yielded  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Yansittart 
were  not  temptations  addressed  to  the  ruling  passions  of 
Warren  Hastings.  He  was  not  squeamish  in  pecuniary 
transactions ;    but  he  was   neither  sordid    nor    rapacious. 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  11 

He  was  far  too  enlightened  a  man  to  look  on  a  great  empire 
merely  as  a  buccaneer  would  look  on  a  galleon.  Had  his 
heart  been  much  worse  than  it  was,  his  understanding 
would  have  preserved  him  from  that  extremity  of  baseness. 
He  was  an  unscrupulous,  perhaps  an  unprincipled  states- 
man ;  but  still  he  was  a  statesman,  and  not  a  freebooter. 
A      In  1764  Hastings  returned  to  England.     He  had  realized 

'  '  only  a  very  moderate  fortune ;  and  that  moderate  fortune 
was  soon  reduced  to  nothing,  partly  by  his  praiseworthy 
liberality,  and  partly  by  his  mismanagement.  Towards  his  10 
relations  he  appears  to  have  acted  very  generously.  The 
greater  part  of  his  savings  he  left  in  Bengal,  hoping  pro- 
bably to  obtain  the  high  usury  of  India.  But  high  usury 
and  bad  security  generally  go  together ;  and  Hastings  lost 
both  interest  and  principal. 

He  remained  four  years  in  England.     Of  his  life  at  this 
\_time  very  little  is  known.     But  it  has  been  asserted,  and 

i  *  is  highly  probable,  that  liberal  studies  and  the  society  of 
men  of  letters  occupied  a  great  part  of  his  time.  It  is  to 
be  remembered  to  his  honour,  that  in  days  when  the  20 
languages  of  the  East  were  regarded  by  other  servants  of 
the  Company  merely  as  the  means  of  communicating  with 
weavers  and  money-changers,  his  enlarged  and  accomplished 
mind  sought  in  Asiatic  learning  for  new  forms  of  intellec- 
tual enjoyment,  and  for  new  views  of  government  and 
society.  Perhaps,  like  most  persons  who  have  paid  much 
attention  to  departments  of  knowledge  which  lie  out  of 
the  common  track,  he  was  inclined  to  overrate  the  value 
of  his  favourite  studies.  He  conceived  that  the  cultivation 
of  Persian  literature  might  with  advantage  be  made  a  part  30 
of  the  liberal  education  of  an  English  gentleman  ;  and  he 
drew  up  a  plan  with  that  view.  It  is  said  that  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  in  which  Oriental  learning  had  never,  since 
the  revival  of  letters,  been  wholly  neglected,  was  to  be 
the  seat  of  the  institution  which  he  contemplated.  An 
endowment  was    expected    from    the    munificence    of    the 


12  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Company  ;  and  professors  thoroughly  competent  to  inter- 
pret Hafiz  and  Ferdusi  were  to  be  engaged  in  the  East. 
Hastings  called  on  Johnson,  with  the  hope,  as  it  should 
seem,  of  interesting  in  this  project  a  man  who  enjoyed 
the  highest  literary  reputation,  and  who  was  particularly 
connected  with  Oxford.  The  interview  appears  to  have 
left  on  Johnson's  mind  a  most  favourable  impression  of 
the  talents  and  attainments  of  his  visitor.  Long  after, 
when  Hastings    was    ruling    the    immense    population    of 

flO  British  India,  the  old  philosopher  wrote  to  him,  and  re- 
ferred in  the  most  courtly  terms,  though  with  great  dignity, 
to  their  short  but  agreeable  intercourse. 

Hastings  soon  began  to  look  again  towards  India.  He 
had  little  to  attach  him  to  England  ;  and  his  pecuniary 
embarrassments  were  great.  He  solicited  his  old  masters 
the  Directors  for  employment.  They  acceded  to  his  request, 
with  high  compliments  both  to  his  abilities  and  to  his 
integrity,  and  appointed  him  a  Member  of  Council  at 
Madras.     It  would  be  unjust  not  to  mention  that,  though 

20  forced  to  borrow  money  for  his  outfit,  he  did  not  withdraw 
any  portion  of  the  sum  which  he  had  appropriated  to 
the  relief  of  his  distressed  relations.  In  the  spring  of  1769 
he  embarked  on  board  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton  and  com- 
menced a  voyage  distinguished  by  incidents  which  might 
furnish  matter  for  a  novel. 

)  Among  the  passengers  in  the  Duke  of  Grafton  was  a 
German  of  the  name  of  Imhoff.  He  called  himself  a  baron  ; 
but  he  was  in  distressed  circumstances,  and  was  going  out 
to  Madras  as   a  portrait-painter,   in   the  hope   of  picking 

30  up  some  of  the  pagodas  which  were  then  lightly  got  and 
as  lightly  spent  by  the  English  in  India.  The  baron  was 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  a  native,  we  have  somewhere  read, 
of  Archangel.  This  young  woman  who,  born  under  the 
Arctic  circle,  was  destined  to  play  the  part  of  a  queen 
under  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  had  an  agreeable  person,  a 
cultivated  mind,  and  manners  in  the  highest  degree  engag- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  13 

ing.  She  despised  her  husband  heartily,  and,  as  the  story 
which  we  have  to  tell  sufficiently  proves,  not  without  reason. 
She  was  interested  by  the  conversation  and  nattered  by 
the  attentions  of  Hastings.  The  situation  was  indeed 
perilous.  No  place  is  so  propitious  to  the  formation  either 
of  close  friendships  or  of  deadly  enmities  as  an  Indianian. 
There  are  very  few  people  who  do  not  find  a  voyage  which 
lasts  several  months  insupportably  dull.  Any  thing  is 
welcome  which  may  break  that  long  monotony,  a  sail,  a 
shark,  an  albatross,  a  man  overboard.  Most  passengers  10 
find  some  resource  in  eating  twice  as  many  meals  as  on 
land.  But  the  great  devices  for  killing  the  time  are 
quarrelling  and  flirting.  The  facilities  for  both  these  excit- 
ing pursuits  are  great.  The  inmates  of  the  ship  are  thrown 
together  far  more  than  in  any  country-seat  or  boarding- 
house.  None  can  escape  from  the  rest  except  by  imprison- 
ing himself  in  a  cell  in  which  he  can  hardly  turn.  All 
food,  all  exercise,  is  taken  in  company.  Ceremony  is  to  a 
great  extent  banished.  It  is  every  day  in  the  power  of 
a  mischievous  person  to  inflict  innumerable  annoyances ;  20 
it  is  every  day  in  the  power  of  an  amiable  person  to  confer 
little  services.  It  not  seldom  happens  that  serious  distress 
and  danger  call  forth  in  genuine  beauty  and  deformity 
heroic  virtues  and  abject  vices  which,  in  the  ordinary  inter- 
course of  good  society,  might  remain  during  many  years 
unknown  even  to  intimate  associates.  Under  such  circum- 
stances met  Warren  Hastings  and  the  Baroness  Imhoff, 
two  persons  whose  accomplishments  would  have  attracted 
notice  in  any  court  of  Europe.  The  gentleman  had  no 
domestic  ties.  The  lady  was  tied  to  a  husband  for  whom  30 
she  had  no  regard,  and  who  had  no  regard  for  his  own 
honour.  An  attachment  sprang  up,  which  was  soon 
strengthened  by  events  such  as  could  hardly  have  occurred 
on  land.  Hastings  fell  ill.  The  baroness  nursed  him  with 
womanly  tenderness,  gave  him  his  medicines  with  her  own 
hand,  and  even  sat  up  in  his  cabin  while  he  slept.     Long 


14  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

before  the  Duke  of  Grafton  reached  Madras,  Hastings  was 
in  love.  But  his  love  was  of  a  most  characteristic  descrip- 
tion. Like  his  hatred,  like  his  ambition,  like  all  his  pas- 
sions, it  was  strong,  but  not  impetuous.  It  was  calm,  deep, 
earnest,  patient  of  delay,  unconquerable  by  time.  Imhoflf 
was  called  into  council  by  his  wife  and  his  wife's  lover. 
It  was  arranged  that  the  baroness  should  institute  a  suit 
for  a  divorce  in  the  courts  of  Franconia,  that  the  baron 
should  afford  every  facility  to  the  proceeding,  and  that, 
10  during  the  years  which  might  elapse  before  the  sentence 
should  be  pronounced,  they  should  continue  to  live  together,  r 
It  was  also  agreed  that  Hastings  should  bestow  some  very 
substantial  marks  of  gratitude  on  the  complaisant  husband, 
and  should,  when  the  marriage  was  dissolved,  make  the 
lady  his  wife,  and  adopt  the  children  whom  she  had  already 
borne  to  Inihoff.  "jL 

{      We  are  not  inclined  to  judge  either  Hastings  or  the  baroness 
/       severely.     There  was  undoubtedly  much  to  extenuate  their 
fault.     But  we  can  by  no  means  concur  with  the  Reverend 
20  Mr.  Gleig,  who  carries  his  partiality  to  so  injudicious  an 
extreme  as  to  describe  the  conduct  of  Imhoff,  conduct  the 
baseness  of  which  is  the  best  excuse  for  the  lovers,  as  "  wise 
and  judicious." 
\       At  Madras,  Hastings  found  the  trade  of  the  Company  in  a 
very  disorganised  state.     His  own  tastes  would  have  led  him 
rather  to  political  than  to  commercial  pursuits :  but  he  knew 
r\  1     that  the  favour  of  his  employers  depended  chiefly  on  their 
f  dividends,  and  that  their  dividends  depended  chiefly  on  the 

investment.  He  therefore,  with  great  judgment,  determined 
30  to  apply  his  vigorous  mind  for  a  time  to  this  department  of 
business,  which  had  been  much  neglected,  since  the  servants 
of  the  Company  had  ceased  to  be  clerks,  and  had  become 
warriors  and  negotiators. 

In  a  very  few  months  he  effected  an  important  reform. 

\     The  Directors  notified  to  him  their  high  approbation,  and 

i/    '      were  so  much  pleased  with  his  conduct  that  they  deter- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  15 

mined  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  government  of 
Bengal.  Early  in  1772  he  quitted  Fort  St.  George  for  his 
new  post.  The  Imhoffs,  who/  were  still  man  and  wife, 
accompanied  him,  and  lived  at/ Calcutta  "on  the  same  wise 
and  judicious  plan," — we  quote  the  words  of  Mr.  Gleig, — 
which  they  had  already  followed  during  more  than  two 
years.  n. 

When  Hastings  took  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  council- 
board,  Bengal  was  still  governed  according  to  the  system 
^Vwhich  Clive  had  devised,  a  system  which  was,  perhaps,  10 
skilfully  contrived  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  and  con- 
cealing a  great  revolution,  but  which,  when  that  revolution 
was  complete  and  irrevocable,  could  produce  nothing  but 
inconvenience.  There  were  two  governments,  the  real  and 
the  ostensible.  The  supreme  power  belonged  to  the  Com- 
pany, and  was  in  truth  the  most  despotic  power  that  can  be 
conceived.  The  only  restraint  on  the  English  masters  of  the 
country  was  that  which  their  own  justice  and  humanity 
imposed  on  them.  There  was  no  constitutional  check  on 
their  will,  and  resistance  to  them  was  utterly  hopeless.  20 

But,  though  thus  absolute  in  reality,  the  English  had  not 
yet  assumed  the  style  of  sovereignty.  They  held  their 
/"territories  as  vassals  of  the  throne  of  Belhi;  they  raised 
their  revenues  as  collectors  appointed  by  the  imperial  com- 
mission ;  their  public  seal  was  inscribed  with  the  imperial 
titles  ;  and  their  mint  struck  only  the  imperial  coin. 

There  was   still  a  nabob   of   Bengal,  who   stood  to   the 
English  rulers  of  his  country  in  the  same  relation  in  which 
Augustulus  stood  to  Odoacer,  or  the  last  Merovingians  to  ^ 
Charles  Martel  and  Pepin.      He  lived  at  Moorshedabad,  30 
surrounded  by  princely  magnificence.     He  was  approached 
with  outward  marks  of  reverence,  and  his  name  was  used  in 
public  instruments.     But  in  the  government  of  the  country 
he  had  less  real  share  than  the  youngest  writer  or  cadet  in  o 
the  Company's  service. 
A/   /  «The  English  council  which  represented  the  Company  at 


^     >**: 


16  \^       WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Calcutta  was  constituted  on  a  very  different  plan  from  that 
which  has  since  been  adopted.  At  present  the  Governor  is, 
as  to  all  executive  measures,  absolute.  He  can  declare  war, 
conclude  peace,  appoint  public  functionaries  or  remove  them, 
in  opposition  to  the  unanimous  sense  of  those  who  sit  with 
him  in  council.  They  are,  indeed,  entitled  to  know  all  that 
is  done,  to  discuss  all  that  is  done,  to  advise,  to  remonstrate, 
to  send  protests  to  England.  But  it  is  with  the  Governor 
that  the  supreme  power  resides,  and  on  him  that  the  whole 

10  responsibility  rests.  This  system,  which  was  introduced  by 
Mr.  Pitt  and  Mr.  Dundas  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  opposi- 
tion of  Mr.  Burke,  we  conceive  to  be  on  the  whole  the  best 
that  was  ever  devised  for  the  government  of  a  country  where 
no  materials  can  be  found  for  a  representative  constitution. 
In  the  time  of  Hastings  the  governor  had  only  one  vote  in 
council,  and,  in  case  of  an  equal  division,  a  casting  vote.  It 
therefore  happened  not  unfrequently  that  he  was  overruled 
on  the  gravest  questions  ;  and  it  was  possible  that  he  might 
be  wholly  excluded,  for  years  together,  from  the  real  direc- 

20  tion  of  public  affairs.  JOjiA^ 

The  English  functionaries  at  Fort  William  had  as  yet  paid 
little  or  no  attention  to  the  internal  government  of  Bengal. 
The  only  branch  of  politics  about  which  they  much  busied 
themselves  was  negotiation  with  the  native  princes.  The 
/~X  police,  the  administration  of  justice,  the  details  of  the  col- 
lection of  revenue  they  almost  entirely  neglected.  We  may 
remark  that  the  phraseology  of  the  Company's  servants  still 
bears  the  traces  of  this  state  of  things.  To  this  day  they 
always    use    the    w^rd    u  political "    as    synonymous    with 

30  "  diplomatic."  We  could  iiame  a  gentleman  still  living 
who  was  described  by  the  highest  authority  as  an  invalu- 
able public  servant,  eminently  fit  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
internal  administration  of  a  whole  presidency,  but  unfor- 
tunately quite  ignorant  of  all  political  business. 

The  internal  government  of  Bengal   the  English  rulers 
delegated  to  a  great  native  minister,  who  was  stationed  at 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  17 

Moorshedabad.  All  military  affairs,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  what  pertains  to  mere  ceremonial,  all  foreign  affairs,  were 
withdrawn  from  his  control  ;  but  the  other  departments 
of  the  administration  were  entirely  confided  to  him.  His 
own  stipend  amounted  to  near  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling  a  year.  The  personal  allowance  of  the  nabobs, 
amounting  to  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  pounds  a 
year,  passed  through  the  minister's  hands,  and  was,  to  a 
great  extent,  at  his  disposal.  The  collection  of  the  revenue, 
the  administration  of  justice,  the  maintenance  of  order,  were  10 
left  to  this  high  functionary  ;  and  for  the  exercise  of  his 
immense  power  he  was  responsible  to  none  but  the  British 
masters  of  the  country. 

A  situation  so  important,  lucrative,  and  splendid,  was 
».  naturally  an  object  of  ambition  to  the  ablest  and  most 
powerful  natives.  Clive  had  found  it  difficult  to  decide 
between  conflicting  pretensions.  Two  candidates  stood  out 
prominently  from  the  crowd,  each  of  them  the  representa- 
tive of  a  race  and  of  a  religion. 

The  one  was  Mahommed  Eeza  Khan,  a  Mussulman  of  20 
Persian  extraction,  able,  active,  religious  after  the  fashion 
of  his  people,  and  highly  esteemed  by  them.  In  England 
he  might  perhaps  have  been  regarded  as  a  corrupt  and 
greedy  politician.  But,  tried  by  the  lower  standard  of 
Indian  morality,  he  might  be  considered  as  a  man  of  in- 
tegrity and  honour. 

^His  competitor  was  a  Hindoo  Brahmin  whose  name  has, 
by  a  terrible  and  melancholy  event,  been  inseparably  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Warren  Hastings,  the  Maharajah  Nun- 
comar.  This  man  had  played  an  important  part  in  all  the  30 
revolutions  which,  since  the  time  of  Surajah  Dowlah,  had 
taken  place  in  Bengal.  To  the  consideration  which  in  that 
country  belongs  to  high  and  pure  caste,  he  added  the  weight 
which  is  derived  from  wealth,  talents,  and  experience.  Of 
his  moral  character  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  notion  to  those 
who  are  acquainted  with  human  nature  only  as  it  appears 

B 


18  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

in  our  island.  What  the  Italian  is  to  the  Englishman,  what 
the  Hindoo  is  to  the  Italian,  what  the  Bengalee  is  to  other 
Hindoos,  that  was  Nuncomar  to  other  Bengalees.  The 
physical  organization  of  the  Bengalee  is  feeble  even  to 
effeminacy.  He  lives  in  a  constant  vapour  bath.  His  pur- 
suits are  sedentary,  his  limbs  delicate,  his  movements 
languid.  During  many  ages  he  has  been  trampled  upon 
by  men  of  bolder  and  more  hardy  breeds.  Courage,  inde- 
pendence, veracity,  are  qualities  to  which  his  constitution 

10  and  his  situation  are  equally  unfavourable.  His  mind  bears 
a  singular  analogy  to  his  body.  It  is  weak  even  to  helpless- 
ness, for  purposes  of  manly  resistance ;  but  its  suppleness 
and  its  tact  move  the  children  of  sterner  climates  to  admira- 
tion not  unmingled  with  contempt.  All  those  arts  which 
are  the  natural  defence  of  the  weak  are  more  familiar  to  this 
subtle  race  than  to  the  Ionian  of  the  time  of  Juvenal,  or  to 
the  Jew  of  the  dark  ages.  What  the  horns  are  to  the 
buffalo,  what  the  paw  is  to  the  tiger,  what  the  sting  is  to 
the  bee,  what  beauty,  according  to  the  old  Greek  song, 

20  is  to  woman,  deceit  is  to  the  Bengalee.  Large  promises, 
smooth  excuses,  elaborate  tissues  of  circumstantial  false- 
hood, chicanery,  perjury,  forgery,  are  the  weapons,  offensive 
and  defensive,  of  the  people  of  the  Lower  Ganges.  All 
those  millions  do  not  furnish  one  sepoy  to  the  armies  of 
the  Company.  But  as  usurers,  as  money-changers,  as  sharp 
legal  practitioners,  no  class  of  human  beings  can  bear  a 
comparison  with  them.  With  all  his  softness,  the  Bengalee 
is  by  no  means  placable  in  his  enmities  or  prone  to  pity. 
The  pertinacity  with  which  he  adheres  to  his  purposes  yields 

30  only  to  the  immediate  pressure  of  fear.  Nor  does  he  lack 
a  certain  kind  of  courage  which  is  often  wanting  in  his 
\  masters.  To  inevitable  evils  he  is  sometimes  found  to 
X  \  oppose  a  passive  fortitude,  such  as  the  Stoics  attributed  to 
their  ideal  sage.  An  European  warrior  who  rushes  on  a 
battery  of  cannon  with  a  loud  hurrah  will  sometimes  shriek 
under  the  surgeon's  knife,  and  fall  into  an  agony  of  despair 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  19 

at  the  sentence  of  death.  But  the  Bengalee  who  would  see 
his  country  overrun,  his  house  laid  in  ashes,  his  children 
murdered  or  dishonoured,  without  having  the  spirit  to  strike 
one  blow,  has  yet  been  known  to  endure  torture  with  the 
firmness  of  Mucius,  and  to  mount  the  scaffold  with  the 
steady  step  and  even  pulse  of  Algernon  Sydney. 

In  Nuncomar,  the  national  character  was  strongly  and 
with  exaggeration  personified.  The  Company's  servants  had 
repeatedly  detected  him  in  the  most  criminal  intrigues.  On 
one  occasion  he  brought  a  false  charge  against  another  10 
Hindoo,  and  tried  to  substantiate  it  by  producing  forged 
.  documents.  On  another  occasion  it  was  discovered  that 
while  professing  the  strongest  attachment  to  the  English, 
he  was  engaged  in  several  conspiracies  against  them,  and  in 
particular  that  he  was  the  medium  of  a  correspondence 
between  the  court  of  Delhi  and  the  French  authorities  in 
the  Carnatic.  For  these  and  similar  practices  he  had  been 
long  detained  in  confinement.  But  his  talents  and  influence 
had  not  only  procured  his  liberation,  but  had  obtained  for 
him  a  certain  degree  of  consideration  even  among  the  British  20 
rulers  of  his  country. 

Clive  was  extremely  unwilling  to  place  a  Mussulman  at 
the  head  of  the  administration  of  Bengal.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  confer  immense  power 
on  a  man  to  whom  every  sort  of  villany  had  repeatedly  been 
brought  home.  Therefore,  though  the  nabob,  over  whom 
Nuncomar  had  by  intrigue  acquired  great  influence,  begged 
that  the  artful  Hindoo  might  be  intrusted  with  the  govern- 
ment, Clive,  after  some  hesitation,  decided  honestly  and 
wisely  in  favour  of  Mahommed  Reza  Khan,  who  had  held  30 
his  high  office  seven  years  when  Hastings  became  Governor. 
An  infant  son  of  Meer  Jaffier  was  now  nabob  ;  and  the 
guardianship  of  the  young  prince's  person  had  been  confided 
to  the  minister. 

Nuncomar,  stimulated  at  once  by  cupidity  and  malice,  had 
been   constantly   attempting   to   undermine    his    successful 


20  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

rival.  This  was  not  difficult.  The  revenues  of  Bengal, 
under  the  administration  established  by  Clive,  did  not  yield 
such  a  surplus  as  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Company ; 
for,  at  that  time,  the  most  absurd  notions  were  entertained 
in  England  respecting  the  wealth  of  India.  JPalaces^  of 
porphyry,  hung  with  the  richest  brocade,  heaps  of  pearls 
and  diamonds,  vaults  from  which  pagodas  and  gold  mohurs 
were  measured  out  by  the  bushel,  filled  the  imagination 
even  of  men  of  business.     Nobody  seemed  to  be  aware  of 

10  what  nevertheless  was  most  undoubtedly  the  truth,  that 
India  was  a  poorer  country  than  countries  which  in  Europe 
are  reckoned  poor,  than  Ireland,  for  example,  or  than  Por- 
tugal. It  was  confidently  believed  by  lords  of  the  treasury 
and  members  for  the  city  that  Bengal  would  not  only  defray 
its  own  charges,  but  would  afford  an  increased  dividend  to 
the  proprietors  of  India  stock,  and  large  relief  to  the 
English  finances.  These  absurd  expectations  were  dis- 
appointed ;  and  the  directors,  naturally  enough,  chose  to 
attribute  the  disappointment  rather  to  the  mismanagement 

20  of  Mahommed  Reza  Khan  than  to  their  own  ignorance  of 
the  country  intrusted  to  their  care.  They  were  confirmed  in 
their  error  by  the  agents  of  Nuncomar ;  for  Nuncomar  had 
agents  even  in  Leadenhall  Street.  Soon  after  Hastings 
reached  Calcutta,  he  received  a  letter  addressed  by  the  Court 
of  Directors,  not  to  the  council  generally,  but  to  himself  in 
particular.  He  was  directed  to  remove  Mahommed  Reza 
Khan,  to  arrest  him,  together  with  all  his  family  and  all  his 
partisans,  and  to  institute  a  strict  inquiry  into  the  whole 
administration   of   the   province.      It  was  added  that  the 

30  Governor  would  do  well  to  avail  himself  of  the  assistance  of 
Nuncomar  in  the  investigation.  The  vices  of  Nuncomar 
were  acknowledged.  But  even  from  his  vices,  it  was  said, 
much  advantage  might  at  such  a  conjuncture  be  derived; 
and,  though  he  could  not  safely  be  trusted,  it  might  still  be 
proper  to  encourage  him  by  hopes  of  reward. 

The  Governor  bore  no  good  will  to  Nuncomar.     Many 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  21 

years  before,  they  had  known  each  other  at  Moorshedabad  ; 
and  then  a  quarrel  had  risen  between  them  which  all  the 
authority  of  their  superiors  could  hardly  compose.  "Widely 
as  they  differed  in  most  points,  they  resembled  each  other 
in  this,  that  both  were  men  of  unforgiving  natures.  To 
Mahommed  Reza  Khan,  on  the  other  hand,  Hastings  had  no 
feelings  of  hostility.  Nevertheless  he  proceeded  to  execute 
the  instructions  of  the  Company  with  an  alacrity  which  he 
never  showed,  except  when  instructions  were  in  perfect  con- 
formity with  his  own  views.  He  had,  wisely  as  we  think,  10 
determined  to  get  rid  of  the  system  of  double  government  in 
Bengal.  The  orders  of  the  directors  furnished  him  with  the 
means  of  effecting  his  purpose,  and  dispensed  him  from  the 
necessity  of  discussing  the  matter  with  his  council.  He  took 
his  measures  with  his  usual  vigour  and  dexterity.  At  mid- 
night, the  palace  of  Mahommed  Reza  Khan  at  Moorsheda- 
bad was  surrounded  by  a  battalion  of  sepoys.  The  minister 
was  roused  from  his  slumbers,  and  informed  that  he  was  a 
prisoner.  With  the  Mussulman  gravity,  he  bent  his  head 
and  submitted  himself  to  the  will  of  God.  He  fell  not  20 
alone.  A  chief  named  Schitab  Roy  had  been  intrusted  with 
the  government  of  Bahar.  His  valour  and  his  attachment 
to  the  English  had  more  than  once  been  signally  proved. 
On  that  memorable  day  on  which  the  people  of  Patna  saw 
from  their  walls  the  whole  army  of  the  Mogul  scattered  by 
the  little  band  of  Captain  Knox,  the  voice  of  the  British 
conquerors  assigned  the  palm  of  gallantry  to  the  brave 
Asiatic.  "  I  never,"  said  Knox,  when  he  introduced  Schitab 
Roy,  covered  with  blood  and  dust,  to  the  English  function- 
aries assembled  in  the  factory,  "  I  never  saw  a  native  fight  30 
so  before."  Schitab  Roy  was  involved  in  the  ruin  of  Ma- 
hommed Reza  Khan,  was  removed  from  office,  and  was 
placed  under  arrest.  The  members  of  the  council  received 
no  intimation  of  these  measures  till  the  prisoners  were  on 
their  road  to  Calcutta. 

The  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  minister  was  postponed 


22  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

on  different  pretences.  He  was  detained  in  an  easy  confine- 
ment during  many  months.  In  the  mean  time,  the  great 
revolution  which  Hastings  had  planned  was  carried  into 
effect.  The  office  of  minister  was  abolished.  The  internal 
administration  was  transferred  to  the  servants  of  the  Com- 
pany. A  system,  a  very  imperfect  system,  it  is  true,  of  civil 
and  criminal  justice,  under  English  superintendence,  was 
established.  The  nabob  was  no  longer  to  have  even  an 
ostensible  share  in  the  government ;  but  he  was  still  to 
10  receive  a  considerable  annual  allowance,  and  to  be  surrounded 
with  the  state  of  sovereignty.  As  he  was  an  infant,  it  was 
necessary  to  provide  guardians  for  his  person  and  property. 
His  person  was  intrusted  to  a  lady  of  his  father's  haram, 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Munny  Begum.  The  office  of 
treasurer  of  the  household  was  bestowed  on  a  son  of  Nun- 
comar,  named  Goordas.  Nuncomar's  services  were  wanted, 
yet  he  could  not  safely  be  trusted  with  power  ;  and  Hastings 
thought  it  a  masterstroke  of  policy  to  reward  the  able  and 
unprincipled  parent  by  promoting  the  inoffensive  child. 
20  The  revolution  completed,  the  double  government  dis- 
solved, the  Company  installed  in  the  full  sovereignty  of 
Bengal,  Hastings  had  no  motive  to  treat  the  late  ministers  j 
with  rigour.  Their  trial  had  been  put  off  on  various  pleas  \ 
till  the  new  organization  was  complete.  They  were  then 
brought  before  a  committee,  over  which  the  Governor  pre-  V_ 

.  'I    sided.     Schitab   Roy  was  speedily  acquitted  with  honour. 

S  A  formal  apology  was  made  to  him  for  the  restraint  to 
which  he  had  been  subjected.  All  the  Eastern  marks  of 
respect  were  bestowed  on  him.  He  was  clothed  in  a  robe  of 
30  state,  presented  with  jewels  and  with  a  richly  harnessed 
elephant,  and  sent  back  to  his  government  at  Patna.  But 
his  health  had  suffered  from  confinement ;  his  high  spirit 
had  been  cruelly  wounded  ;  and  soon  after  his  liberation  he 
died  of  a  broken  heart. 

The  innocence  of  Mahommed  Reza  Khan  was  not  so  clearly 
established.     But  the  Governor  was  not  disposed  to   deal 


SL^r^"*  *       WARREN  HAST 


V  V  V-*Ji-'"~"w'  w      ■      X         l^/setTs*'^  \ 


HASTINGS.  23 

harshly,     ^fter  a  long  hearing,  in  which  Nuncomar  appeared 
as  the  accuser,  and  displayed  both  the  art  and  the  inveterate 

y\    rancour  which  distinguished  him,  Hastings  pronounced  that 

5j    the  charges  had  not  been  made  out,  and  ordered  the  fallen 
minister  to  be  set  at  liberty. 

Nuncomar  had  purposed  to  destroy  the  Mussulman  ad- 
ministration, and  to  rise  on  its  ruin.  Both  his  malevolence 
and  his  cupidity  had  been  disappointed.  Hastings  had  made 
him  a  tool,  had  used  him  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing 
the  transfer  of  the  government  from  Moorshedabad  to  Cal-  10 
cutta,  from  native  to  European  hands.  The  rival,  the  enemy, 
so  long  envied,  so  implacably  persecuted,  had  been  dismissed 
unhurt.     The   situation  so  long  and  ardently  desired  had 

1  been  abolished.  It  was  natural  that  the  Governor  should  be 
from  that  time  an  object  of  the  most  intense  hatred  to  the 
vindictive  Brahmin.  As  yet,  however,  it  was  necessary  to 
suppress  such  feelings.  The  time  was  coming  when  that 
long  animosity  was  to  end  in  a  desperate  and  deadly  struggle. 
In  the  mean  time,  Hastings  was  compelled  to  turn  his  atten- 
tion to  foreign  affairs.  The  object  of  his  diplomacy  was  at  this  20 
time  simply  to  get  money.  The  finances  of  his  government 
were  in  an  embarrassed  state  ;  and  this  embarrassment  he 
was  determined  to  relieve  by  some  means,  fair  or  foul.     The 

^  principle  which  directed  all  his  dealings  with  his  neighbours 
is  fully  expressed  by  the  old  motto  of  one  of  the  great 
predatory  families  of  Teviotdale,  "Thou  shalt  want  ere  I 
want."  He  seems  to  have  laid  it  down,  as  a  fundamental 
proposition  which  could  not  be  disputed,  that,  when  he  had 
not  as  many  lacs  of  rupees  as  the  public  service  required,  he 
was  to  take  them  from  any  body  who  had.  One  thing,  30 
indeed,  is  to  be  said  in  excuse  for  him.  The  pressure  applied 
to  him  by  his  employers  at  home,  was  such  as  only  the 
highest  virtue  could  have  withstood,  such  as  left  him  no 
choice  except  to  commit  great  wrongs,  or  to  resign  his  high 
post,  and  with  that  post  all  his  hopes  of  fortune  and  distinc- 
tion.    The  directors,  it  is  true,  never  enjoined  or  applauded 


24  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

any  crime.  Far  from  it.  Whoever  examines  their  letters 
written  at  that  time  will  find  there  many  just  and  humane 
sentiments,  many  excellent  precepts,  in  short,  an  admirable 
code  of  political  ethics.  But  every  exhortation  is  modified 
or  nullified  by  a  demand  for  money.  "Govern  leniently, 
and  send  more  money  ;  practise  strict  justice  and  modera- 
tion towards  neighbouring  powers,  and  send  more  money  ; " 
this  is  in  truth  the  sum  of  almost  all  the  instructions  that 
Hastings  ever  received  from  home.     Now  these  instructions, 

10  being  interpreted,  mean  simply,  "  Be  the  father  and  the 
oppressor  of  the  people  ;  be  just  and  unjust,  moderate  and 
rapacious."  The  directors  dealt  with  India,  as  the  church,  in 
the  good  old  times,  dealt  with  a  heretic.  They  delivered  the 
victim  over  to  the  executioners,  with  an  earnest  request  that 
all  possible  tenderness  might  be  shown.  We  by  no  means 
accuse  or  suspect  those  who  framed  these  despatches  of 
hypocrisy.  It  is  probable  that,  writing  fifteen  thousand 
miles  from  the  place  where  their  orders  were  to  be  carried 
into  effect,  they  never  perceived  the  gross  inconsistency  of 

20  which  they  were  guilty.  But  the  inconsistency  was  at  once 
manifest  to  their  lieutenant  at  Calcutta,  who,  with  an  empty 
treasury,  with  an  unpaid  army,  with  his  own  salary  often  in 
arrear,  with  deficient  crops,  with  government  tenants  daily 
running  away,  was  called  upon  to  remit  home  another  half 
million  without  fail.  Hastings  saw  that  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  him  to  disregard  either  the  moral  discourses  or 
the  pecuniary  requisitions  of  his  employers.  Being  forced  to 
disobey  them  in  something,  he  had  to  consider  what  kind  of 
disobedience  they  would  most  readily  pardon ;  and  he  cor- 

30  rectly  judged  that  the  safest  course  would  be  to  neglect  the 
sermons  and  to  find  the  rupees. 

A  mind  so  fertile  as  his,  and  so  little  restrained  by  con- 
scientious scruples,  speedily  discovered  several  modes  of 
relieving  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the  government. 
The  allowance  of  the  Nabob  of  Bengal  was  reduced  at  a 
stroke  from  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds  a 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  25 

year  to  half  that  sum.     The  Company  had  bound  itself  to    ) 
pay  near  three  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year  to  the  great   ^"W 
Mogul,  as  a  mark  of  homage  for  the  provinces  which  he  had       ^ 
intrusted  to  their  care  ;   and   they  had  ceded  to  him  the  H^JJ 
districts  of  Corah  and  Allahabad.     On   the   plea  that  the 
Mogul  was  not  really  independent,  but  merely  a  tool  in  the 
hands  of  others,  Hastings  determined  to  retract  these  con- 
cessions.    He  accordingly  declared  that  the  English  would 
pay  no  more  tribute,  and  sent  troops  to  occupy  Allahabad 
and  Corah.     The  situation  of  these  places  was   such,  that  10 
there  would  be  little  advantage  and  great  expense  in  retain- 
ing them.     Hastings,  who  wanted  money  and  not  territory, 
determined  to  sell  them.     A  purchaser  was  not  wanting. 
The  rich  province  of  Oude  had,  in  the  general  dissolution  of 
the  Mogul  Empire,  fallen  to  the  share  of  the  great  Mussul- 
man house   by  which  it  is  still  governed.     About  twenty 
years  ago,   this   house,   by  the    permission   of  the   British 
government,  assumed  the  royal  title ;   but,  in  the  time  of 
Warren   Hastings,   such   an   assumption   would  have   been 
considered  by  the  Mahommedans  of  India  as  a  monstrous  20 
impiety.     The  Prince  of  Oude,  though  he  held  the  power, 
did  not  venture  to  use  the  style  of   sovereignty.     To  the 
appellation  of  Nabob  or  Viceroy,  he  added  that  of  Vizier  of 
the  monarchy  of  Hindostan,  just  as  in  the  last  century  the 
Electors  of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  though  independent  of 
the  Emperor,  and  often  in  arms  against  him,  were  proud  to 
style  themselves  his  Grand  Chamberlain  and  Grand  Marshal. 
Sujah  Dowlah,  then  Nabob  Vizier,  was  on  excellent  terms  "»\vwv/^ 
with  the  English.     He  had  a  large  treasure.     Allahabad  and 
Corah  were  so  situated  that  they  might  be  of  use  to  him  and  30 
could  be  of  none  to  the  Company.     The  buyer  and  seller 
soon  came  to  an  understanding  ;  and  the  provinces  which 
had  been  torn  from  the  Mogul  were  made  over  to  the  govern-/    \*- 
ment  of  Oude  for  about  half  a  million  sterling. 

But  there  was  another  matter  still  more  important  to  be 
settled  by  the  Vizier  and  the  Governor.     The  fate  of  a  brave 


26  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

people  was  to  be  decided.  It  was  decided  in  a  manner  which 
has  left  a  lasting  stain  on  the  fame  of  Hastings  and  of 
England. 

The  people  of  Central  Asia  had  always  been  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  India  what  the  warriors  of  the  German  forests  were 
to  the  subjects  of  the  decaying  monarchy  of  Rome.  The 
dark,  slender,  and  timid  Hindoo  shrank  from  a  conflict  with 
the  strong  muscle  and  resolute  spirit  of  the  fair  race,  which 
dwelt  beyond  the  passes.     There  is  reason  to  believe  that,  at 

10  a  period  anterior  to  the  dawn  of  regular  history,  the  people 
who  spoke  the  rich  and  flexible  Sanscrit  came  from  regions 
lying  far  beyond  the  Hyphasis  and  the  Hystaspes,  and  im-  -, 
posed  their  yoke  on  the  children  of  the  soil.  oLt  is  certain  >"' 
that,  during  the  last  ten  centuries,  a  succession  of  invaders 
descended  from  the  west  on  Hindostan  :  nor  was  the  course 
of  conquest  ever  turned  back  towards  the  setting  sun,  till 
that  memorable  campaign  in  which  the  cross  of  Saint  George 
was  planted  on  the  walls  of  Ghizni. 

The  Emperors  of   Hindostan  themselves  came  from  the 

20  other  side  of  the  great  mountain  ridge  ;  and  it  had  always 
been  their  practice  to  recruit  their  army  from  the  hardy  and 
valiant  race  from  which  their  own  illustrious  house  sprang. 
Among  the  military  adventurers  who  were  allured  to  the 
Mogul  standards  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Cabul  and  Can- 
dahar,  were  conspicuous  several  gallant  bands,  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Rohillas.  Their  services  had  been  rewarded 
with  large  tracts  of  land,  fiefs  of  the  spear,  if  we  may  use  an 
expression  drawn  from  an  analogous  state  of  things,  in  that 
fertile  plain  through  which  the  Ramgunga  flows  from  the 

30  snowy  heights  of  Kumaon  to  join  the  Ganges.  In  the 
general  confusion  which  followed  the  death  of  Aurungzebe, 
the  warlike  colony  became  virtually  independent.  The  Ro- 
hillas were  distinguished  from  the  other  inhabitants  of  India 
by  a  peculiarly  fair  complexion.  They  were  more  honour- 
ably distinguished  by  courage  in  war,  and  by  skill  in  the 
arts  of  peace.     While  anarchy  raged  from  Lahore  to  Cape 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  27 

Comorin,  their  little  territory  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  repose 
under  the  guardianship  of  valour.  Agriculture  and  com- 
merce flourished  among  them  ;  nor  were  they  negligent  of 
rhetoric  and  poetry.  Many  persons  now  living  have  heard 
aged  men  talk  with  regret  of  the  golden  days  when  the 
Afghan  princes  ruled  in  the  vale  of  Rohilcund. 

Sujah  Dowlah  had  set  his  heart  on  adding  this  rich  district 
to  his  own  principality.  Right,  or  show  of  right,  he  had 
absolutely  none.  His  claim  was  in  no  respect  better  founded 
than  that  of  Catherine  to  Poland,  or  that  of  the  Bonaparte  10 
family  to  Spain.  The  Rohillas  held  their  country  by  exactly 
the  same  title  by  which  he  held  his,  and  had  governed  their 
country  far  better  than  his  had  ever  been  governed.  Nor 
were  they  a  people  whom  it  was  perfectly  safe  to  attack. 
Their  land  was  indeed  an  open  plain,  destitute  of  natural 
defences  ;  but  their  veins  were  full  of  the  high  blood  of 
Afghanistan.  As  soldiers,  they  had  not  the  steadiness  which 
is  seldom  found  except  in  company  with  strict  discipline ; 
but  their  impetuous  valour  had  been  proved  on  many  fields 
of  battle.  It  was  said  that  their  chiefs,  when  united  by  20 
common  peril,  could  bring  eighty  thousand  men  into  the 
field.  Sujah  Dowlah  had  himself  seen  them  fight,  and  wisely 
shrank  from  a  conflict  with  them.  There  was  in  India  one 
army,  and  only  one,  against  which  even  those  proud  Cau- 
casian tribes  could  not  stand.  It  had  been  abundantly 
proved  that  neither  tenfold  odds,  nor  the  martial  ardour 
of  the  boldest  Asiatic  nations,  could  avail  aught  against 
English  science  and  resolution.  XWas  it  possible  to  induce 
the  Governor  of  Bengal  to  let  out  to  hire  the  irresistible 
energies  of  the  imperial  people,  the  skill  against  which  the  30 
ablest  chiefs  of  Hindostan  were  helpless  as  infants,  the  dis- 
cipline which  had  so  often  triumphed  over  the  frantic 
struggles  of  fanaticism  and  despair,  the  unconquerable 
British  courage  which  is  never  so  sedate  and  stubborn  as 
towards  the  close  of  a  doubtful  and  murderous  day  ? 

This  was  what  the  Nabob  Yizier  asked,  and  what  Hastings 


28  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

granted.  A  bargain  was  soon  struck.  Each  of  the  negoti- 
ators had  what  the  other  wanted.  Hastings  was  in  need  of 
funds  to  carry  on  the  government  of  Bengal,  and  to  send 
remittances  to  London;  and  Sujah  Dowlah  had  an  ample 
revenue.  Sujah  Dowlah  was  bent  on  subjugating  the  Ro- 
hillas  ;  and  Hastings  had  at  his  disposal  the  only  force  by 
which  the  Rohillas  could  be  subjugated.  It  was  agreed  that 
an  English  army  should  be  lent  to  the  Nabob  Vizier,  and 
that,  for  the  loan,  he  should  pay  four  hundred  thousand 

10  pounds  sterling,  besides  defraying  all  the  charge  of  the  troops 
while  employed  in  his  service. 

"  I  really  cannot  see,"  says  the  Reverend  Mr.  Gleig,  "  upon 
what  grounds,  either  of  political  or  moral  justice,  this  propo- 
sition deserves  to  be  stigmatized  as  infamous."  If  we  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  words,  it  is  infamous  to  commit  a 
wicked  action  for  hire,  and  it  is  wicked  to  engage  in  war 
without  provocation.  In  this  particular  war,  scarcely  one 
aggravating  circumstance  was  wanting.  The  object  of  the 
Rohilla  war  was  this,  to  deprive  a  large  population,  who  had 

20  never  done  us  the  least  harm,  of  a  good  government,  and  to 
place  them,  against  their  will,  under  an  execrably  bad  one. 
Nay,  even  this  is  not  all.  England  now  descended  far  below 
the  level  even  of  those  petty  German  princes  who,  about  the 
same  time,  sold  us  troops  to  fight  the  Americans.  The  hussar- 
mongers  of  Hesse  and  Anspach  had  at  least  the  assurance 
that  the  expeditions  on  which  their  soldiers  were  to  be  em- 
ployed would  be  conducted  in  conformity  with  the  humane 
rules  of  civilised  warfare.  Was  the  Rohilla  war  likely  to  be 
so  conducted  ?   &id  the  Governor  stipulate  that  it  should  be 

30  so  conducted  ?  He  well  knew  what  Indian  warfare  was.  He 
well  knew  that  the  power  which  he  covenanted  to  put  into 
Sujah  Dowlah's  hands  would,  in  all  probability,  be  atrociously 
abused ;  and  he  required  no  guarantee,  no  promise  that  it 
should  not  be  so  abused.  He  did  not  even  reserve  to  himself 
the  right  of  withdrawing  his  aid  in  case  of  abuse,  however 
gross.     Mr.  Gleig  repeats  Major  Scott's  absurd  plea,  that 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  29 

Hastings  was  justified  in  letting  out  English  troops  to 
slaughter  the  Rohillas,  because  the  Rohillas  were  not  of 
Jfii<5an  race,  but  a  colony  from  a  distant  country,  ^What 
were  the  English  themselves  ?  $Vas  it  for  them  to  proclaim 
a  crusade  for  the  expulsion  of  all  intruders  from  the  countries 
watered  by  the  Ganges  1  f)id  it  lie  in  their  mouths  to  con- 
tend that  a  foreign  settler  who  establishes  an  empire  in  India 
is  a  caput  lupinum?  ^Vhat  would  they  have  said  if  any 
other  power  had,  on  such  a  ground,  attacked  Madras  or 
Calcutta,  without  the  slightest  provocation  ?  Such  a  defence  10 
was  wanting  to  make  the  infamy  of  the  transaction  com-  r\  J 
plete.  The  atrocity  of  the  crime,  and  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
apology,  are  worthy  of  each  other.  V^ 

One  of  the  three  brigades  of  which  the  Bengal  army  con- 
sisted was  sent  under  Colonel  Champion  to  join  Sujah 
Dowlah's  forces.  The  Rohillas  expostulated,  entreated, 
offered  a  large  ransom,  but  in  vain.  They  then  resolved 
to  defend  themselves  to  the  last.  A  bloody  battle  was 
fought.  "  The  enemy,"  says  Colonel  Champion,  "  gave  proof 
of  a  good  share  of  military  knowledge  ;  and  it  is  impossible  20 
to  describe  a  more  obstinate  firmness  of  resolution  than  they 
displayed."  The  dastardly  sovereign  of  Oude  fled  from  the 
field.  The  English  were  left  unsupported  ;  but  their  fire 
and  their  charge  were  irresistible.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
the  most  distinguished  chiefs  had  fallen,  fighting  bravely  at 
the  head  of  their  troops,  that  the  Rohilla  ranks  gave  way. 
Then  the  Nabob  Vizier  and  his  rabble  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  hastened  to  plunder  the  camp  of  the  valiant 
enemies,  whom  they  had  never  dared  to  look  in  the  face. 
The  soldiers  of  the  Company,  trained  in  an  exact  discipline,  30 
kept  unbroken  order,  while  the  tents  were  pillaged  by  these 
worthless  allies.  But  many  voices  were  heard  to  exclaim, 
"  We  have  had  all  the  fighting,  and  those  rogues  are  to  have 
all  the  profit." 

Then  the  horrors  of  Indian  war  were  let  loose  on  the  fair 
valleys  and  cities  of  Rohilcund.     The  whole  country  was  in 


30  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

a  blaze.  More  than  a  hundred  thousand  people  fled  from 
their  homes  to  pestilential  jungles,  preferring  famine,  and 
fever,  and  the  haunts  of  tigers,  to  the  tyranny  of  him,  to 
whom  an  English  and  a  Christian  government  had,  for 
shameful  lucre,  sold  their  substance,  and  their  blood,  and 
the  honour  of  their  wives  and  daughters.  Colonel  Champion 
remonstrated  with  the  Nabob  Vizier,  and  sent  strong  repre- 
sentations to  Fort  "William  ;  but  the  Governor  had  made  no 
conditions  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  war  was  to  be  carried 

10  on.  He  had  troubled  himself  about  nothing  but  his  forty 
lacs  ;  and,  though  he  might  disapprove  of  Sujah  Dowlah's 
wanton  barbarity,  he  did  not  think  himself  entitled  to  inter- 
fere, except  by  offering  advice.  This  delicacy  excites  the 
admiration  of  the  reverend  biographer.  "Mr.  Hastings," 
he  says,  "  could  not  himself  dictate  to  the  Nabob,  nor  permit 
the  commander  of  the  Company's  troops  to  dictate  how  the 
war  was  to  be  carried  on.".  No,  to  be  sure.  Mr.  Hastings 
had  only  to  put  down  by  main  force  the  brave  struggles  of 
innocent   men   fighting   for   their   liberty.      Their  military 

20  resistance  crushed,  his  duties  ended  ;  and  he  had  then  only 
to  fold  his  arms  and  look  on,  while  their  villages  were 
burned,  their  children  butchered,  and  their  women  violated. 
/Will  Mr.  Gleig  seriously  maintain  this  opinion  %  "/Is  any 
rule  more  plain  than  this,  that  whoever  voluntarily  gives  to 
another  irresistible  power  over  human  beings,  is  bound  to 
take  order  that  such  power  shall  not  be  barbarously  abused  ? 
But  we  beg  pardon  of  our  readers  for  arguing  a  point  so 
clear. 

We  hasten  to  the  end  of  this  sad  and  disgraceful  story. 

30  The  war  ceased.  The  finest  population  in  India  was  sub- 
jected to  a  greedy,  cowardly,  cruel  tyrant.  Commerce  and 
agriculture  languished.  The  rich  province  which  had 
tempted  the  cupidity  of  Sujah  Dowlah  became  the  most 
miserable  part  even  of  his  miserable  dominions.  Yet  is  the 
injured  nation  not  extinct.  At  long  intervals  gleams  of  its 
ancient  spirit   have  flashed  forth  ;   and  even   at  this  day, 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  31 

valour,  and  self-respect,  and  a  chivalrous  feeling  rare  among 
Asiatics,  and  a  bitter  remembrance  of  the  great  crime  of 
England,  distinguish  that  noble  Afghan  race.  To  this  day 
they  are  regarded  as  the  best  of  all  sepoys  at  the  cold  steel  ; 
and  it  was  very  recently  remarked,  by  one  who  had  enjoyed 
great  opportunities  of  observation,  that  the  only  natives  of 
India  to  whom  the  word  "  gentleman  "  can  with  perfect  pro- 
priety be  applied  are  to  be  found  among  the  Rohillas. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  morality  of  Hastings,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  financial  results  of  his  policy  did  1G 
honour  to  his  talents.  In  less  than  two  years  after  he 
assumed  the  government,  he  had,  without  imposing  any 
additional  burdens  on  the  people  subject  to  his  authority, 
added  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  to  the 
annual  income  of  the  Company,  besides  procuring  about  a 
million  in  ready  money.  He  had  also  relieved  the  finances 
of  Bengal  from  military  expenditure,  amounting  to  near  a 
quarter  of  a  million  a  year,  and  had  thrown  that  charge  on 
the  Nabob  of  Oude.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  was  a 
result  which,  if  it  had  been  obtained  by  honest  means,  would  20 
have  entitled  him  to  the  warmest  gratitude  of  his  country, 
and  which,  by  whatever  means  obtained,  proved  that  he 
possessed  great  talents  for  administration. 

In  the  mean  time,  Parliament  had  been  engaged  in  long 
and  grave  discussions  on  Asiatic  affojrs.  The  ministry  of 
Lord  North,  in  the  session  of  1773,  introduced  a  measure 
which  made  a  considerable  change  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Indian  government.  This  law,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Regulating  Act,  provided  that  the  presidency  of  Bengal 
should  exercise  a  control  over  the  other  possessions  of  the  30 
Company  ;  that  the  chief  of  that  presidency  should  be  styled 
Governor-General  ;  that  he  should  be  assisted  by  four  Coun- 
cillors ;  and  that  a  supreme  court  of  judicature,  consisting  of 
a  chief  justice  and  three  inferior  judges,  should  be  estab- 
lished at  Calcutta.  This  court  was  made  independent  of  the 
Governor-General  and  Council,  and  was   intrusted  with  a 


32  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  immense,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  of  undefined  extent. 

The  Governor-General  and  Councillors  were  named  in 
the  act,  and  were  to  hold  their  situations  for  five  years. 
Hastings  was  to  be  the  first  Governor-General.  One  of  the 
four  new  Councillors,  Mr.  Barwell,  an  experienced  servant 
of  the  Company,  was  then  in  India.  The  other  three, 
General  Clavering,  Mr.  Monson,  and  Mr.  Francis,  were  sent 
out  from  England. 

10  The  ablest  of  the  new  Councillors  was,  beyond  all  doubt, 
Philip  Francis.  His  acknowledged  compositions  prove  that 
he  possessed  considerable  eloquence  and  information.  Several 
years  passed  in  the  public  offices  had  formed  him  to  habits 
of  business.  His  enemies  have  never  denied  that  he  had  a 
fearless  and  manly  spirit ;  and  his  friends,  we  are  afraid, 
must  acknowledge  that  his  estimate  of  himself  was  extrava- 
gantly high,  that  his  temper  was  irritable,  that  his  deport- 
ment was  often  rude  and  petulant,  and  that  his  hatred  was 
of  intense  bitterness  and  of  long  duration. 

20  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  mention  this  eminent  man  with- 
out adverting  for  a  moment  to  the  question  which  his  name 
at  once  suggests  to  every  mind.  Was  he  the  author  of  the 
Letters  of  Junius  ?  Our  own  firm*  belief  is  that  he  was. 
The  evidence  is,  we  think,  such  as  would  support  a  verdict 
in  a  civil,  nay,  in  a  criminal  proceeding.  The  handwriting 
of  Junius  is  the  very  peculiar  handwriting  of  Francis, 
slightly  disguised.  As  to  the  position,  pursuits,  and  con- 
nections of  Junius,  the  following  are  the  most  important 
facts  which  can  be  considered  as  clearly  proved  :  first,  that 

30  he  was  acquainted  with  the  technical  forms  of  the  secretary 
of  state's  office  ;  secondly,  that  he  was  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  business  of  the  war-office  ;  thirdly,  that  he,  during 
the  year  1770,  attended  debates  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
took  notes  of  speeches,  particularly  of  the  speeches  of  Lord 
Chatham  ;  fourthly,  that  he  bitterly  resented  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Chamier  to  the  place  of  deputy  secretary-at- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  33 

war  ;  fifthly,  that  he  was  bound  by  some  strong  tie  to  the 
first  Lord  Holland.  Now,  Francis  passed  some  years  in  the 
secretary  of  state's  office.  He  was  subsequently  chief  clerk 
of  the  war-office.  He  repeatedly  mentioned  that  he  had 
himself,  in  1770,  heard  speeches  of  Lord  Chatham  ;  and 
some  of  these  speeches  were  actually  printed  from  his  notes. 
He  resigned  his  clerkship  at  the  war-office  from  resentment 
at  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Chamier.  It  was  by  Lord 
Holland  that  he  was  first  introduced  into  the  public  service. 
Now,  here  are  five  marks,  all  of  which  ought  to  be  found  in  ip 
Junius.  They  are  all  five  found  in  Francis.  We  do  not 
believe  that  more  than  two  of  them  can  be  found  in  any 
other  person  whatever.  If  this  argument  does  not  settle  the 
question,  there  is  an  end  of  all  reasoning  on  circumstantial, 
evidence.  ' 

The  internal  evidence  seems  to  us  to  point  the  same  way.  ^^ 
The  style  of  Francis  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  of 
Junius  ;  nor  are  we  disposed  to  admit,  what  is  generally 
taken  for  granted,  that  the  acknowledged  compositions  of 
Francis  are  very  decidedly  inferior  to  the  anonymous  letters.  20 
The  argument  from  inferiority,  at  all  events,  is  one  which 
may  be  urged  with  at  least  equal  force  against  every  claimant 
that  has  ever  been  mentioned,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Burke  ;  and  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  prove  that  Burke 
was  not  Junius,  ^nd  what  conclusion,  after  all,  can  be 
drawn  from  mere  inferiority  %  Every  writer  must  produce 
his  best  work ;  and  the  interval  between  his  best  work  and 
his  second  best  work  may  be  very  wide  indeed.  Nobody 
will  say  that  the  best  letters  of  Junius  are  more  decidedly 
superior  to  the  acknowledged  works  of  Francis  than  three  30 
or  four  of  Corneille's  tragedies  to  the  rest,  than  three  or 
four  of  Ben  Jonson's  comedies  to  the  rest,  than  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress  to  the  other  works  of  Bunyan,  than  Don  Quixote 
to  the  other  works  of  Cervantes.  Nay,  it  is  certain  that 
the  Man  in  the  Mask,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  was 
a  most  unequal  writer.     To  go  no  further  than  the  letters  • 

o 


34  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

which  bear  the  signature  of  Junius  ;  the  letter  to  the 
king,  and  the  letters  to  Home  Tooke,  have  little  in  com- 
mon, except  the  asperity  ;  and  asperity  was  an  ingredient 
seldom  wanting  either  in  the  writings  or  in  the  speeches  of 
Francis. 

Indeed  one  of  the  strongest  reasons  for  believing  that 
Francis  was  Junius  is  the  moral  resemblance  between  the 
two  men.  It  is  not  difficult,  from  the  letters  which,  under 
various   signatures,   are    known   to   have   been  written   by 

10  Junius,  and  from  his  dealings  with  Woodfall  and  others,  to 
form  a  tolerably  correct  notion  of  his  character.  He  was 
clearly  a  man  not  destitute  of  real  patriotism  and  magna- 
nimity, a  man  whose  vices  were  not  of  a  sordid  kind.  But 
he  must  also  have  been  a  man  in  the  highest  degree  arrogant 
and  insolent,  a  man  prone  to  malevolence,  and  prone  to  the 
error  of  mistaking  his  malevolence  for  public  virtue.  "Doest  - 
thou  well  to  be  angry  ? "  was  the  question  asked  in  old  time 
of  the  Hebrew  prophet.  And  he  answered,  "  I  do  well." 
This  was  evidently  the  temper  of  Junius  ;  and  to  this  cause 

20  we  attribute  the  savage  cruelty  which  disgraces  several  of 
his  letters.  No  man  is  so  merciless  as  he  who,  under  a 
strong  self-delusion,  confounds  his  antipathies  with  his 
duties.  It  may  be  added  that  Junius,  though  allied  with 
the  democratic  party  by  common  enmities,  was  the  very 
opposite  of  a  democratic  politician.  While  attacking  in- 
dividuals with  a  ferocity  which  perpetually  violated  all  the 
laws  of  literary  warfare,  he  regarded  the  most  defective 
parts  of  old  institutions  with  a  respect  amounting  to 
pedantry,  pleaded  the  cause  of   Old   Sarum  with   fervour, 

30  and  contemptuously  told  the  capitalists  of  Manchester  and 
Leeds  that,  if  they  wanted  votes,  they  might  buy  land  and 
become  freeholders  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  All  this, 
we  believe,  might  stand,  with  scarcely  any  change,  for  a 
character  of  Philip  Francis. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  great  anonymous  writer  should 
have  been  willing  at  that  time  to  leave  the  country  which 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  35 

had  been  so  powerfully  stirred  by  his  eloquence.  Every 
thing  had  gone  against  him.  That  party  which  he  clearly 
preferred  to  every  other,  the  party  of  George  Grenville,  had 
been  scattered  by  the  death  of  its  chief ;  and  Lord  Suffolk 
had  led  the  greater  part  of  it  over  to  the  ministerial  benches. 
The  ferment  produced  by  the  Middlesex  election  had  gone 
down.  Every  faction  must  have  been  alike  an  object  of  l 
aversion  to  Junius.  His  opinions  on  domestic  affairs  separ- 
ated him  from  the  ministry  ;  his  opinions  on  colonial  affairs 
from  the  opposition.  Under  such  circumstances,  he  had  10 
thrown  down  his  pen  in  misanthropical  despair.  His  fare- 
well letter  to  Woodfall  bears  date  the  nineteenth  of  January, 
1773.  In  that  letter,  he  declared  that  he  must  be  an  idiot  to 
write  again  ;  that  he  had  meant  well  by  the  cause  and  the 
public  ;  that  both  were  given  up ;  that  there  were  not  ten 
men  who  would  act  steadily  together  on  any  question.  "But 
it  is  all  alike,"  he  added,  "  vile  and  contemptible.  You  have 
never  flinched  that  I  know  of  ;  and  I  shall  always  rejoice 
to  hear  of  your  prosperity."  These  were  the  last  words  of 
Junius.  In  a  year  from  that  time,  Philip  Francis  was  on  his  20 
voyage  to  Bengal.  \  /Os^cy*/™ 

With  the  three  new  Councillors  came  out  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  chief  justice  was  Sir  Elijah  Impey. 
He  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  Hastings  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  Governor-General,  if  he  had  searched  through  all 
the  inns  of  court,  could  not  have  found  an  equally  service- 
able tool.  But  the  members  of  Council  were  by  no  means  in 
an  obsequious  mood.  Hastings  greatly  disliked  the  new 
form  of  government,  and  had  no  very  high  opinion  of  his 
coadjutors.  They  had  heard  of  this,  and  were  disposed  to  be  30 
suspicious  and  punctilious.  When  men  are  in  such  a  frame 
of  mind,  any  trifle  is  sufficient  to  give  occasion  for  dispute. 
The  members  of  Council  expected  a  salute  of  twenty-one 
guns  from  the  batteries  of  Fort  William.  Hastings  allowed 
them  only  seventeen.  They  landed  in  ill-humour.  The  first 
civilities  were  exchanged  with  cold  reserve.     On  the  morrow 


A 


36  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

commenced  that  long  quarrel  which,  after  distracting  British 
India,  was  renewed  in  England,  and  in  which  all  the  most 
eminent  statesmen  and  orators  of  the  age  took  active  part  on 
one  or  the  other  side. 

Hastings  was  supported  by  Barwell.  They  had  not  al- 
ways been  friends.  But  the  arrival  of  the  new  members  of 
Council  from  England  naturally  had  the  effect  of  uniting 
the  old  servants  of  the  Company.  Clavering,  Monson,  and 
Francis  formed  the  majority.     They  instantly  wrested  the 

10  government  out  of  the  hands  of  Hastings  ;  condemned, 
certainly  not  without  justice,  his  late  dealings  with  the 
Nabob  Vizier  ;  recalled  the  English  agent  from  Oude,  and 
sent  thither  a  creature  of  their  own  ;  ordered  the  brigade 
which  had  conquered  the  unhappy  Rohillas  to  return  to  the 
Company's  territories  ;  and  instituted  a  severe  inquiry  into 
the  conduct  of  the  war.  Next,  in  spite  of  the  Govern or- 
General's  remonstrances,  they  proceeded  to  exercise,  in  the 
most  indiscreet  manner,  their  new  authority  over  the  sub- 
ordinate presidencies  ;  threw  all  the  affairs  of  Bombay  into 

20  confusion  ;  and  interfered,  with  an  incredible  union  of  rash- 
ness and  feebleness,  in  the  intestine  disputes  of  the  Mahratta 
government.  At  the  same  time,  they  fell  on  the  internal 
administration  of  Bengal,  and  attacked  the  whole  fiscal  and 
judicial  system,  a  system  which  was  undoubtedly  defective, 
but  which  it  was  very  improbable  that  gentlemen  fresh  from 
England  would  be  competent  to  amend.  The  effect  of  their 
reforms  was  that  all  protection  to  life  and  property  was 
withdrawn,  and  that  gangs  of  robbers  plundered  and 
slaughtered  with  impunity  in  the  very  suburbs  of  Calcutta. 

30  Hastings  continued  to  live  in  the  Government-house,  and  to 
draw  the  salary  of  Governor-General.  He  continued  even 
to  take  the  lead  at  the  council-board  in  the  transaction  of 
ordinary  business  ;  for  his  opponents  could  not  but  feel  that 
he  knew  much  of  which  they  were  ignorant,  and  that  he 
decided,  both  surely  and  speedily,  many  questions  which  to 
them  would  have  been  hopelessly  puzzling.     But  the  higher 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  37 

powers  of  government  and  the  most  valuable  patronage  had  y 
been  taken  from  him.  ^^ 

The  natives  soon  found  this  out.  They  considered  him  as  "7  f/  " 
a  fallen  man  ;  and  they  acted  after  their  kind.  Some  of  our 
readers  may  have  seen,  in  India,  a  cloud  of  crows  pecking  a 
sick  vulture  to  death,  no  bad  type  of  what  happens  in  that 
country,  as  often  as  fortune  deserts  one  who  has  been  great 
and  dreaded.  In  an  instant,  all  the  sycophants  who  had 
lately  been  ready  to  lie  for  him,  to  forge  for  him,  to  pandar 
for  him,  to  poison  for  him,  hasten  to  purchase  the  favour  10 
of  his  victorious  enemies  by  accusing  him.  An  Indian 
government  has  only  to  let  it  be  understood  that  it  wishes 
a  particular  man  to  be  ruined ;  and,  in  twenty -four  hours, 
it  will  be  furnished  with  grave  charges,  supported  by  de- 
positions so  full  and  circumstantial  that  any  person  unaccus- 
tomed to  Asiatic  mendacity  would  regard  them  as  decisive. 
It  is  well  if  the  signature  of  the  destined  victim  is  not 
counterfeited  at  the  foot  of  some  illegal  compact,  and  if 
some  treasonable  paper  is  not  slipped  into  a  hiding-place 
in  his  house.  Hastings  was  now  regarded  as  helpless.  The  20 
power  to  make  or  mar  the  fortune  of  every  man  in  Bengal 
had  passed,  as  it  seemed,  into  the  hands  of  the  new  Coun- 
cillors. Immediately  charges  against  the  Governor-General 
began  to  pour  in.  They  were  eagerly  welcomed  by  the 
majority,  who,  to  do  them  justice,  were  men  of  too  much 
honour  knowingly  to  countenance  false  accusations,  but  who 
were  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  East  to  be  aware 
that,  in  that  part  of  the  world,  a  very  little  encouragement 
from  power  will  call  forth,  in  a  week,  more  Oateses,  and 
Bedloes,  and  Dangerfields,  than  Westminster  Hall  sees  in  a  30 
century. 

It  would  have  been  strange  indeed  if,  at  such  a  juncture, 
Nuncomar  had  remained  quiet.  That  bad  man  was  stimu- 
lated at  once  by  malignity,  by  avarice,  and  by  ambition. 
Now  was  the  time  to  be  avenged  on  his  old  enemy,  to  wreak 
a  grudge  of   seventeen   years,  to  establish  himself  in  the 


38  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

favour  of  the  majority  of  the  Council,  to  become  the  greatest 
native  in  Bengal.  From  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  new 
Councillors,  he  had  paid  the  most  marked  court  to  them,  and 
had  in  consequence  been  excluded,  with  all  indignity,  from 
the  Government-house.  He  now  put  into  the  hands  of 
Francis,  with  great  ceremony,  a  paper  containing  several 
charges  of  the  most  serious  description.  By  this  document 
Hastings  was  accused  of  putting  offices  up  to  sale,  and  of 
receiving  bribes  for  suffering  offenders  to  escape.     In  par- 

10  ticular,  it  was  alleged  that  Mahommed  Reza  Khan  had  been 
dismissed  with  impunity,  in  consideration  of  a  great  sum 
paid  to  the  Governor- General. 

Francis  read  the  paper  in  Council.  A  violent  altercation 
followed.  Hastings  complained  in  bitter  terms  of  the  way 
in  which  he  was  treated,  spoke  with  contempt  of  Nuncomar 
and  of  Nuncomar's  accusation,  and  denied  the  right  of  the 
Council  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  Governor.  At  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Board,  another  communication  from  Nun- 
comar   was    produced.     He    requested    that   he    might    be 

20  permitted  to  attend  the  Council,  and  that  he  might  be  heard 
in  support  of  his  assertions.  Another  tempestuous  debate 
took  place.  The  Governor-General  maintained  that  the 
council-room  was  not  a  proper  place  for  such  an  investiga- 
tion ;  that  from  persons  who  were  heated  by  daily  conflict 
with  him  he  could  not  expect  the  fairness  of  judges ;  and 
that  he  could  not,  without  betraying  the  dignity  of  his  post, 
submit  to  be  confronted  with  such  a  man  as  Nuncomar. 
The  majority,  however,  resolved  to  go  into  the  charges. 
Hastings  rose,  declared  the  sitting  at  an  end,  and  left  the 

30  room  followed  by  Barwell.  The  other  members  kept  their 
seats,  voted  themselves  a  council,  put  Clavering  in  the  chair, 
and  ordered  Nuncomar  to  be  called  in.  Nuncomar  not  only 
adhered  to  the  original  charges,  but,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
East,  produced  a  large  supplement.  He  stated  that  Hast- 
ings had  received  a  great  sum  for  appointing  Rajah  Goordas 
treasurer  of  the  Nabob's  household,  and  for  committing  the 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  39 

care  of  his  Highness's  person  to  the  Munny  Begum.  He 
put  in  a  letter  purporting  to  bear  the  seal  of  the  Munny 
Begum,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  truth  of  his 
story.  The  seal,  whether  forged,  as  Hastings  affirmed,  or 
genuine,  as  we  are  rather  inclined  to  believe,  proved  nothing, 
Nuncomar,  as  every  body  knows  who  knows  India,  had  only 
to  tell  the  Munny  Begum  that  such  a  letter  would  give 
pleasure  to  the  majority  of  the  Council,  in  order  to  procure 
her  attestation.  The  majority,  however,  voted  that  the 
charge  was  made  out ;  that  Hastings  had  corruptly  received  10 
between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  pounds ;  and  that  he 
ought  to  be  compelled  to  refund. 

The  general  feeling  among  the  English  in  Bengal  was 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  Governor-General.  In  talents 
for  business,  in  knowledge  of  the  country,  in  general 
courtesy  of  demeanour,  he  was  decidedly  superior  to  his 
persecutors.  The  servants  of  the  Company  were  naturally 
disposed  to  side  with  the  most  distinguished  member  of 
their  own  body  against  a  clerk  from  the  war-office,  who, 
profoundly  ignorant  of  the  native  languages  and  the  native  20 
character,  took  on  himself  to  regulate  every  department 
of  the  administration.  Hastings,  however,  in  spite  of  the 
general  sympathy  of  his  countrymen,  was  in  a  most  painful 
situation.  There  was  still  an  appeal  to  higher  authority 
in  England.  If  that  authority  took  part  with  his  enemies, 
nothing  was  left  to  him  but  to  throw  up  his  office.  He 
accordingly  placed  his  resignation  in  the  hands  of  his  agent 
in  London,  Colonel  Macleane.  But  Macleane  was  instructed 
not  to  produce  the  resignation,  unless  it  should  be  fully 
ascertained  that  the  feeling  at  the  India  House  was  adverse  30 
to  the  Governor-General. 

The  triumph  of  Nuncomar  seemed  to  be  complete.  He 
held  a  daily  levee,  to  which  his  countrymen  resorted  in 
crowds,  and  to  which,  on  one  occasion,  the  majority  of  the 
Council  condescended  to  repair.  His  house  was  an  office 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  charges  against  the  Governor- 


40  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

General.  It  was  said  that,  partly  by  threats,  and  partly 
by  wheedling,  the  villanous  Brahmin  had  induced  many  of  \J* 
the  wealthiest  men  of  the  province  to  send  in  complaints. 
But  he  was  playing  a  perilous  game.  It  was  not  safe  to 
drive  to  despair  a  man  of  such  resources  and  of  such  deter- 
mination as  Hastings.  Nuncomar,  with  all  his  acuteness, 
did  not  understand  the  nature  of  the  institutions  under 
which  he  lived.  He  saw  that  he  had  with  him  the  majority 
of  the  body  which  made  treaties,  gave  places,  raised  taxes. 

10  The  separation  between  political  and  judicial  functions  was  a 
thing  of  which  he  had  no  conception.  It  had  probably 
never  occurred  to  him  that  there  was  in  Bengal  an  authority 
perfectly  independent  of  the  Council,  an  authority  which 
could  protect  one  whom  the  Council  wished  to  destroy, 
and  send  to  the  gibbet  one  whom  the  Council  wished  to 
protect.  Yet  such  was  the  fact.  The  Supreme  Court  was, 
within  the  sphere  of  its  own  duties,  altogether  independent 
of  the  Government.  Hastings,  with  his  usual  sagacity,  had 
seen  how  much  advantage  he  might  derive  from  possessing^ 

20  himself  of  this  stronghold  ;  and  he  had  acted  accordingly. 
The  Judges,  especially  the  Chief  Justice,  were  hostile  to  the 
majority  of  the  Council.  The  time  had  now  come  for  putting 
this  formidable  machinery  into  action. 

On  a  sudden,  Calcutta  was  astounded  by  the  news  that  Nun- 
comar had  been  taken  up  on  a  charge  of  felony,  committed, 
and  thrown  into  the  common  gaol.  The  crime  imputed  to 
him  was  that  six  years  before  he  had  forged  a  bond.  The 
ostensible  prosecutor  was  a  native.  But  it  was  then,  and 
still  is,  the  opinion  of  every  body,  idiots  and  biographers 

30  excepted,  that  Hastings  was  the  real  mover  in  the  business. 
The  rage  of  the  majority  rose  to  the  highest  point.  They 
protested  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
sent  several  urgent  messages  to  the  Judges,  demanding  that 
Nuncomar  should  be  admitted  to  bail.  The  Judges  returned 
haughty  and  resolute  answers.  All  that  the  Council  could 
do  was  to  heap  honours  and  emoluments  on  the  family  of 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  41 

Nuncomar  ;  and  this  they  did.  In  the  mean  time  the  assizes 
commenced  ;  a  true  bill  was  found ;  and  Nuncomar  was 
brought  before  Sir  Elijah  Impey  and  a  jury  composed  of 
Englishmen.  A  great  quantity  of  contradictory  swearing, 
and  the  necessity  of  having  every  word  of  the  evidence 
interpreted,  protracted  the  trial  to  a  most  unusual  length. 
At  last  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned,  and  the  Chief 
Justice  pronounced  sentence  of  death  on  the  prisoner. 

Mr.  Gleig  is  so  strangely  ignorant  as  to  imagine  that  the 
judges  had  no  further  discretion  in  the  case,  and  that  the  10 
power  of  extending  mercy  to  Nuncomar  resided  with  the 
Council.  He  therefore  throws  on  Francis  and  Francis's  party 
the  whole  blame  of  what  followed.  We  should  have  thought 
that  a  gentleman  who  has  published  five  or  six  bulky  volumes 
on  Indian  affairs  might  have  taken  the  trouble  to  inform 
himself  as  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Indian 
Government.  The  Supreme  Court  had,  under  the  Regulating 
Act,  the  power  to  respite  criminals  till  the  pleasure  of  the 
Crown  should  be  known.  The  Council  had,  at  that  time,  no 
power  to  interfere.  20 

That  Impey  ought  to  have  respited  Nuncomar  we  hold  to 
be  perfectly  clear.  Whether  the  whole  proceeding  was  not 
illegal,  is  a  question.  But  it  is  certain  that,  whatever  may 
have  been,  according  to  technical  rules  of  construction,  the 
effect  of  the  statute  under  which  the  trial  took  place,  it  was 
most  unjust  to  hang  a  Hindoo  for  forgery.  The  law  which 
made  forgery  capital  in  England  was  passed  without  the 
smallest  reference  to  the  state  of  society  in  India.  It  was 
unknown  to  the  natives  of  India.  It  had  never  been  put  in 
execution  among  them,  certainly  not  for  want  of  delinquents.  30 
It  was  in  the  highest  degree  shocking  to  all  their  notions. 
They  were  not  accustomed  to  the  distinction  which  many 
circumstances,  peculiar  to  our  own  state  of  society,  have  led 
us  to  make  between  forgery  and  other  kinds  of  cheating. 
The  counterfeiting  of  a  seal  was,  in  their  estimation,  a 
common  act  of  swindling ;   nor  had   it  ever  crossed   their 


42  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

minds  that  it  was  to  be  punished  as  severely  as  gang- 
robbery  or  assassination.  A  just  judge  would,  beyond  all 
doubt,  have  reserved  the  case  for  the  consideration  of  the 
sovereign.     But  Impey  would  not  hear  of  mercy  or  delay. 

The  excitement  among  all  classes  was  great.  Francis  and 
Francis's  few  English  adherents  described  the  Governor- 
General  and  the  Chief  Justice  as  the  worst  of  murderers. 
Clavering,  it  was  said,  swore  that,  even  at  the  foot  of  the 
gallows,  Nuncomar  should   be  rescued.      The  bulk  of  the 

10  European  society,  though  strongly  attached  to  the  Governor- 
General,  could  not  but  feel  compassion  for  a  man  who,  with 
all  his  crimes,  had  so  long  filled  so  large  a  space  in  their 
sight,  who  had  been  great  and  powerful  before  the  British 
empire  in  India  began  to  exist,  and  to  whom,  in  the  old 
times,  governors  and  members  of  council,  then  mere  com- 
mercial factors,  had  paid  court  for  protection.  The  feeling 
of  the  Hindoos  was  infinitely  stronger.  They  were,  indeed, 
not  a  people  to  strike  one  blow  for  their  countryman.  But 
his  sentence  filled  them  with  sorrow  and  dismay.    Tried  even 

20  by  their  low  standard  of  morality,  he  was  a  bad  man.  But, 
bad  as  he  was,  he  was  the  head  of  their  race  and  religion,  a 
Brahmin  of  the  Brahmins.  He  had  inherited  the  purest  and 
highest  caste.  He  had  practised  with  the  greatest  punctuality 
all  those  ceremonies  to  which  the  superstitious  Bengalees 
ascribe  far  more  importance  than  to  the  correct  discharge  of 
the  social  duties.  They  felt,  therefore,  as  a  devout  Catholic 
in  the  dark  ages  would  have  felt,  at  seeing  a  prelate  of  the 
highest  dignity  sent  to  the  gallows  by  a  secular  tribunal. 
According  to  their  old  national  laws,  a  Brahmin  could  not  be 

30  put  to  death  for  any  crime  whatever.  And  the  crime  for 
which  Nuncomar  was  about  to  die  was  regarded  by  them  in 
much  the  same  light  in  which  the  selling  of  an. unsound  horse, 
for  a  sound  price,  is  regarded  by  a  Yorkshire  jockey. 

The  Mussulmans  alone  appear  to  have  seen  with  exultation 
the  fate  of  the  powerful  Hindoo,  who  had  attempted  to  rise 
by  means   of  the   ruin   of   Mahommed   Reza   Khan.      The 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  43 

Maliommedan  historian  of  those  times  takes  delight  in 
aggravating  the  charge.  He  assures  us  that  in  Nuncomar's 
house  a  casket  was  found  containing  counterfeits  of  the  seals 
of  all  the  richest  men  of  the  province.  We  have  never  fallen 
in  with  any  other  authority  for  this  story,  which  in  itself  is 
by  no  means  improbable. 

The  day  drew  near  ;  and  Nuncomar  prepared  himself  to 
die  with  that  quiet  fortitude  with  which  the  Bengalee,  so 
effeminately  timid  in  personal  conflict,  often  encounters 
calamities  for  which  there  is  no  remedy.  The  sheriff,  with  10 
the  humanity  which  is  seldom  wanting  in  an  English  gentle- 
man, visited  the  prisoner  on  the  eve  of  the  execution,  and 
assured  him  that  no  indulgence,  consistent  with  the  law, 
should  be  refused  to  him.  Nuncomar  expressed  his  grati- 
tude with  great  politeness  and  unaltered  composure.  Not 
a  muscle  of  his  face  moved.  Not  a  sigh  broke  from  him. 
He  put  his  finger  to  his  forehead,  and  calmly  said  that  fate 
would  have  its  way,  and  that  there  was  no  resisting  the 
pleasure  of  God.  He  sent  his  compliments  to  Francis, 
Clavering,  and  Monson,  and  charged  them  to  protect  Rajah  20 
Goordas,  who  was  about  to  become  the  head  of  the  Brahmins 
of  Bengal.  The  sheriff  withdrew,  greatly  agitated  by  what 
had  passed,  and  Nuncomar  sat  composedly  down  to  write 
notes  and  examine  accounts. 

4^  The  next  morning,  before  the  sun  was  in  his  power,  an 
immense  concourse  assembled  round  the  place  where  the 
gallows  had  been  set  up.  Grief  and  horror  were  on  every 
face  ;  yet  to  the  last  the  multitude  could  hardly  believe  that 
the  English  really  purposed  to  take  the  life  of  the  great 
Brahmin.  At  length  the  mournful  procession  came  through  30 
the  crowd.  Nuncomar  sat  up  in  his  palanquin,  and  looked 
round  him  with  unaltered  serenity.  He  had  just  parted 
from  those  who  were  most  nearly  connected  with  him. 
Their  cries  and  contortions  had  appalled  the  European 
ministers  of  justice,  but  had  not  produced  the  smallest 
effect  on  the  iron  stoicism  of  the  prisoner.     The  only  anxiety 


44  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

which  he  expressed  was  that  men  of  his  own  priestly  caste 
might  be  in  attendance  to  take  charge  of  his  corpse.  He 
again  desired  to  be  remembered  to  his  friends  in  the  Council, 
mounted  the  scaffold  with  firmness,  and  gave  the  signal  to 
the  executioner.  The  moment  that  the  drop  fell,  a  howl  of 
sorrow  and  despair  rose  from  the  innumerable  spectators. 
Hundreds  turned  away  their  faces  from  the  polluting  sight, 
fled  with  loud  wailings  towards  the  Hoogley,  and  plunged 
into  its  holy  waters,  as  if  to  purify  themselves  from  the  guilt 

10  of  having  looked  on  such  a  crime.  These  feelings  were  not 
confined  to  Calcutta.  The  whole  province  was  greatly  ex- 
cited ;  and  the  population  of  Dacca,  in  particular,  gave  strong 
signs  of  grief  and  dismay. 

Of  Impey's  conduct  it  is  impos3ible  to  speak  too  severely. 
We  have  already  said  that,  in  our  opinion,  he  acted  unjustly 
in  refusing  to  respite  Nuncomar.  No  rational  man  can  doubt 
that  he  took  this  course  in  order  to  gratify  the  Governor- 
General.  If  we  had  ever  had  any  doubts  on  that  point,  they 
would  have  been  dispelled  by  a  letter  which  Mr.  Gleig  has 

20  published.  Hastings,  three  or  four  years  later,  described 
Impey  as  the  man  "to  whose  support  he  was  at  one  time 
indebted  for  the  safety  of  his  fortune,  honour,  and  reputa- 
tion." These  strong  words  can  refer  only  to  the  case  of 
Nuncomar ;  and  they  must  mean  that  Impey  hanged  Nun- 
comar in  order  to  support  Hastings.  It  is,  therefore,  our 
deliberate  opinion  that  Impey,  sitting  as  a  judge,  put  a  man 
unjustly  to  death  in  order  to  serve  a  political  purpose. 

But  we  look  on  the  conduct  of  Hastings  in  a  somewhat 
different   light.      He   was   struggling   for   fortune,   honour, 

30  liberty,  all  that  makes  life  valuable.  He  was  beset  by 
rancorous  and  unprincipled  enemies.  From  his  colleagues 
he  could  expect  no  justice.  He  cannot  be  blamed  for  wish- 
ing to  crush  his  accusers.  He  was  indeed  bound  to  use  only 
legitimate  means  for  that  end.  But  it  was  not  strange  that 
he  should  have  thought  any  means  legitimate  which  were 
pronounced  legitimate  by  the  sages  of  the  law,  by  men  whose 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  45 

peculiar  duty  it  was  to  deal  justly  between  adversaries,  and 
whose  education  might  be  supposed  to  have  peculiarly  quali- 
fied them  for  the  discharge  of  that  duty.  Nobody  demands 
from  a  party  the  unbending  equity  of  a  judge.  The  reason 
that  judges  are  appointed  is,  that  even  a  good  man  cannot  be 
trusted  to  decide  a  cause  in  which  he  is  himself  concerned. 
Not  a  day  passes  on  which  an  honest  prosecutor  does  not  ask 
for  what  none  but  a  dishonest  tribunal  would  grant.  It  is 
too  much  to  expect  that  any  man,  when  his  dearest  interests 
are  at  stake,  and  his  strongest  passions  excited,  will,  as  10 
against  himself,  be  more  just  than  the  sworn  dispensers  of 
justice.  To  take  an  analogous  case  from  the  history  of  our 
own  island  :  suppose  that  Lord  Stafford,  when  in  the  Tower 
on  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  the  Popish  plot,  had  been 
apprised  that  Titus  Oates  had  done  something  which  might, 
by  a  questionable  construction,  be  brought  under  the  head  of 
felony.  «{Should  we  severely  blame  Lord  Stafford,  in  the  sup- 
posed case,  for  causing  a  prosecution  to  be  instituted,  for  fur- 
nishing funds,  for  using  all  his  influence  to  intercept  the 
mercy  of  the  Crown  1  We  think  not.  If  a  judge,  indeed,  20 
from  favour  to  the  Catholic  lords,  were  to  strain  the  law  in 
order  to  hang  Oates,  such  a  judge  would  richly  deserve  im- 
peachment. But  it  does  not  appear  to  us  that  the  Catholic 
lord,  by  bringing  the  case  before  the  judge  for  decision,  would 
materially  overstep  the  limits  of  a  just  self-defence. 

While,  therefore,  we  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  this 
memorable  execution  is  to  be  attributed  to  Hastings,  we 
doubt  whether  it  can  with  justice  be  reckoned  among  his 
crimes.  That  his  conduct  was  dictated  by  a  profound  policy 
is  evident.  He  was  in  a  minority  in  Council.  It  was  possible  30 
that  he  might  long  be  in  a  minority.  He  knew  the  native 
character  well.  He  knew  in  what  abundance  accusations  are 
certain  to  flow  in  against  the  most  innocent  inhabitant  of 
India  who  is  under  the  frown  of  power.  There  was  not  in 
the  whole  black  population  of  Bengal  a  place-holder,  a  place- 
hunter,  a  government  tenant,   who  did  not  think  that  he 


46  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

might  better  himself  by  sending  up  a  deposition  against  the 
Governor-General.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  persecuted 
statesman  resolved  to  teach  the  whole  crew  of  accusers  and 
witnesses  that,  though  in  a  minority  at  the  council  board,  he 
was  still  to  be  feared.  The  lesson  which  he  gave  them  was 
indeed  a  lesson  not  to  be  forgotten.  [The  head  of  the  com- 
bination which  had  been  formed  against  him,  the  richest,  the 
most  powerful,  the  most  artful  of  the  Hindoos,  distinguished 
by  the  favour  of  those  who  then  held  the  government,  fenced 

10  round  by  the  superstitious  reverence  of  millions,  was  hanged 
in  broad  day  before  many  thousands  of  people.  Every  thing 
that  could  make  the  warning  impressive,  dignity  in  the 
sufferer,  solemnity  in  the  proceeding,  was  found  in  this  case. 
The  helpless  rage  and  vain  struggles  of  the  Council  made  the 
triumph  more  signal.  From  that  moment  the  conviction  of 
every  native  was  that  it  was  safer  to  take  the  part  of 
Hastings  in  a  minority  than  that  of  Francis  in  a  majority, 
and  that  he  who  was  so  venturous  as  to  join  in  running  down 
the  Governor-General  might  chance,  in  the  phrase  of  the 

20  Eastern  poet,  to  find  a  tiger,  while  beating  the  jungle  for 
a  deer.  The  voices  of  a  thousand  informers  were  silenced  in 
an  instant.  From  that  time,  whatever  difficulties  Hastings 
might  have  to  encounter,  he  was  never  molested  by  accusa- 
tions from  natives  of  India. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  one  of  the  letters  of 
Hastings  to  Dr.  Johnson  bears  date  a  very  few  hours  after 
the  death  of  Nuncomar.  (While  the  whole  settlement  was  in 
commotion,  while  a  mighty  and  ancient  priesthood  were 
weeping  over  the  remains  of  their  chief,  the  conqueror  in 

30  that  deadly  grapple  sat  down,  with  characteristic  self-posses- 
sion, to  write  about  the  Tour  to  the  Hebrides,  Jones's  Persian 
Grammar,  and  the  history,  traditions,  arts,  and  natural  pro- 
ductions of  India. 

In  the  mean  time,  intelligence  of  the  Rohilla  war,  and  of 
the  first  disputes  between  Hastings  and  his  colleagues,  had 
reached  London.     The  directors  took  part  with  the  majority, 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  47 

and  sent  out  a  letter  filled  with  severe  reflections  on  the  con- 
duct of  Hastings.  They  condemned,  in  strong  but  just  terms, 
the  iniquity  of  undertaking  offensive  wars  merely  for  the 
sake  of  pecuniary  advantages.  But  they  utterly  forgot  that, 
if  Hastings  had  by  illicit  means  obtained  pecuniary  advan- 
tages, he  had  done  so,  not  for  his  own  benefit,  but  in  order  to 
meet  their  demands.  To  enjoin  honesty,  and  to  insist  on 
having  what  could  not  be  honestly  got,  was  then  the  constant 
practice  of  the  Company.  As  Lady  Macbeth  says  of  her 
husband,  they  "  would  not  play  false,  and  yet  would  wrongly  10 
win." 
\/The  Regulating  Act,  by  which  Hastings  had  been  ap- 
pointed Governor-General  for  five  years,  empowered  the 
Crown  to  remove  him  on  an  address  from  the  Company. 
Lord  North  was  desirous  to  procure  such  an  address.  The 
three  members  of  Council  who  had  been  sent  out  from  Eng- 
land were  men  of  his  own  choice.  General  Clavering,  in 
particular,  was  supported  by  a  large  parliamentary  connec- 
tion, such  as  no  cabinjet  could  be  inclined  to  disoblige.  The 
wish  of  the  Minister  was  to  displace  Hastings,  and  to  put  20 
Clavering  at  the  head  of  the  government.  In  the  Court  of 
Directors  parties  were  very  nearly  balanced.  Eleven  voted 
against  Hastings  ;  ten  for  him.  The  Court  of  Proprietors 
was  then  convened.  The  great  sale-room  presented  a  singular 
appearance.  Letters  had  been  sent  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  exhorting  all  the  supporters  of  government  who 
held  India  stock  to  be  in  attendance.  Lord  Sandwich  mar- 
shalled the  friends  of  the  administration  with  his  usual 
dexterity  and  alertness.  Fifty  peers  and  privy  councillors, 
seldom  seen  so  far  eastward,  were  counted  in  the  crowd.  30 
The  debate  lasted  till  midnight.  The  opponents  of  Hastings 
had  a  small  superiority  on  the  division ;  but  a  ballot  was 
demanded;  and  the  result  was  that  the  Governor-General 
triumphed  by  a  majority  of  above  a  hundred  votes  over  the 
combined  efforts  of  the  Directors  and  the  Cabinet.  The  minis- 
ters were  greatly  exasperated  by  this  defeat.     Even  Lord 


48  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

North  lost  his  temper,  no  ordinary  occurrence  with  him,  and 
threatened  to  convoke  parliament  before  Christmas,  and  to 
bring  in  a  bill  for  depriving  the  Company  of  all  political 
power,  and  for  restricting  it  to  its  old  business  of  trading  in 
silks  and  teas. 

Colonel  Macleane,  who  through  all  this  conflict  had  zeal- 
ously supported  the  cause  of  Hastings,  now  thought  that  his 
employer  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  turned  out, 
branded  with   parliamentary   censure,   perhaps  prosecuted. 

10  The  opinion  of  the  crown  lawyers  had  already  been  taken 
respecting  some  parts  of  the  Governor-General's  conduct. 
It  seemed  to  be  high  time  to  think  of  securing  an  honour- 
able retreat.  Under  these  circumstances,  Macleane  thought 
himself  justified  in  producing  the  resignation  with  which  he 
had  been  intrusted.  The  instrument  was  not  in  very  accurate 
form  ;  but  the  Directors  were  too  eager  to  be  scrupulous. 
They  accepted  the  resignation,  fixed  on  Mr.  Wheler,  one  of 
their  own  body,  to  succeed  Hastings,  and  sent  out  orders  that 
General   Clavering,   as   senior  member  of   Council,    should 

20  exercise  the  functions  of  Governor-General  till  Mr.  Wheler 
should  arrive. 

But,  while  these  things  were  passing  in  England,  a  great 
change  had  taken  place  in  Bengal.  Monson  was  no  more. 
Only  four  members  of  the  government  were  left.  Clavering 
and  Francis  were  on  one  side,  Bar  well  and  the  Governor- 
General  on  the  other  ;  and  the  Governor-General  had  the 
casting  vote.  Hastings,  who  had  been  during  two  years 
destitute  of  all  power  and  patronage,  became  at  once  absolute. 
He  instantly  proceeded  to  retaliate  on  his  adversaries.    Their 

30  measures  were  reversed  :  their  creatures  were  displaced.  A 
new  valuation  of  the  lands  of  Bengal,  for  the  purposes  of 
taxation,  was  ordered  ;  and  it  was  provided  that  the  whole 
inquiry  should  be  conducted  by  the  Governor-General,  and 
that  all  the  letters  relating  to  it  should  run  in  his  name.  He 
began,  at  the  same  time,  to  revolve  vast  plans  of  conquest 
and  dominion,  plans  which  he  lived  to  see  realised,  though 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  49 

not  by  himself.  His  project  was  to  form  subsidiary  alliances 
with  the  native  princes,  particularly  with  those  of  Oude  and 
Berar,  and  thus  to  make  Britain  the  paramount  power  in 
India.  While  he  was  meditating  these  great  designs,  arrived 
the  intelligence  that  he  had  ceased  to  be  Governor-General, 
that  his  resignation  had  been  accepted,  that  Wheler  was 
coming  out  immediately,  and  that,  till  Wheler  arrived,  the 
chair  was  to  be  filled  by  Clavering. 

Had  Hastings  still  been  in  a  minority,  he  would  probably 
have  retired  without  a  struggle ;  but  he  was  now  the  real  10 
master  of  British  India,  and  he  was  not  disposed  to  quit 
his  high  place.  He  asserted  that  he  had  never  given  any 
instructions  which  could  warrant  the  steps  taken  at  home. 
What  his  instructions  had  been,  he  owned  he  had  forgotten. 
If  he  had  kept  a  copy  of  them  he  had  mislaid  it.  But  he 
was  certain  that  he  had  repeatedly  declared  to  the  Directors 
that  he  would  not  resign.  He  could  not  see  how  the  court, 
possessed  of  that  declaration  from  himself,  could  receive  his 
resignation  from  the  doubtful  hands  of  an  agent.  If  the 
resignation  were  invalid,  all  the  proceedings  which  were  20 
founded  on  that  resignation  were  null,  and  Hastings  was 
still  Governor-General. 

He  afterwards  affirmed  that,  though  his  agents  had  not 
acted  in  conformity  with  his  instructions,  he  would  never- 
theless have  held  himself  bound  by  their  acts,  if  Clavering 
had  not  attempted  to  seize  the  supreme  power  by  violence. 
Whether  this  assertion  were  or  were  not  true,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  imprudence  of  Clavering  gave  Hastings  an 
advantage.  The  General  sent  for  the  keys  of  the  fort  and 
of  the  treasury,  took  possession  of  the  records,  and  held  a  30 
council  at  which  Francis  attended.  Hastings  took  the  chair 
in  another  apartment,  and  Barwell  sat  with  him.  Each  of 
the  two  parties  had  a  plausible  show  of  right.  There  was  no 
authority  entitled  to  their  obedience  within  fifteen  thousand 
miles.  It  seemed  that  there  remained  no  way  of  settling 
the  dispute  except  an  appeal  to  arms ;   and  from  such  an 


50  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

appeal  Hastings,  confident  of  his  influence  over  his  country- 
men in  India,  was  not  inclined  to  shrink.  He  directed  the 
officers  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  William  and  of  all  the  neigh- 
bouring stations  to  obey  no  orders  but  his.  At  the  same 
time,  with  admirable  judgment,  he  offered  to  submit  the 
case  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  to  abide  by  its  decision.  By 
making  this  proposition  he  risked  nothing  ;  yet  it  was  a 
proposition  which  his  opponents  could  hardly  reject.  No- 
body could  be  treated  as  a  criminal  for  obeying  what  the 

10  judges  should  solemnly  pronounce  to  be  the  lawful  govern- 
ment. The  boldest  man  would  shrink  from  taking  arms  in 
defence  of  what  the  judges  should  pronounce  to  be  usurpa- 
tion. Clavering  and  Francis,  after  some  delay,  unwillingly 
consented  to  abide  by  the  award  of  the  court.  The  court 
pronounced  that  the  resignation  was  invalid,  and  that 
therefore  Hastings  was  still  Governor-General  under  the 
Regulating  Act ;  and  the  defeated  members  of  the  Council, 
finding  that  the  sense  of  the  whole  settlement  was  against 
them,  acquiesced  in  the  decision. 

20  About  this  time  arrived  the  news  that,  after  a  suit 
which  had  lasted  several  years,  the  Franconian  courts  had 
decreed  a  divorce  between  Imhoff  and  his  wife.  The  Baron 
left  Calcutta,  carrying  with  him  the  means  of  buying  an 
estate  in  Saxony.  The  lady  became  Mrs.  Hastings.  The 
event  was  celebrated  by  great  festivities  ;  and  all  the  most 
conspicuous  persons  at  Calcutta,  without  distinction  of 
parties,  were  invited  to  the  Government-house.  Clavering, 
as  the  Mahommedan  chronicler  tells  the  story,  was  sick 
in  mind  and  body,  and  excused  himself  from  joining  the 

30  splendid  assembly.  But  Hastings,  whom,  as  it  should  seem, 
success  in  ambition  and  in  love  had  put  into  high  good- 
humour,  would  take  no  denial.  He  went  himself  to  the 
General's  house,  and  at  length  brought  his  vanquished  rival 
in  triumph  to  the  gay  circle  which  surrounded  the  bride. 
The  exertion  was  too  much  for  a  frame  broken  by  mortifica- 
tion as  well  as  by  disease.     Clavering  died  a  few  days  later. 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  51 

Wheler,  who  came  out  expecting  to  be  Governor-General, 
and  was  forced  to  content  himself  with  a  seat  at  the  Council 
Board,  generally  voted  with  Francis.  But  the  Governor- 
General,  with  BarwelPs  help  and  his  own  casting  vote,  was 
still  the  master.  Some  change  took  place  at  this  time  in  the 
feeling  both  of  the  Court  of  Directors  and  of  the  Ministers 
of  the  Crown.  All  designs  against  Hastings  were  dropped  ; 
and  when  his  original  term  of  five  years  expired,  he  was 
quietly  re-appointed.  The  truth  is,  that  the  fearful  dangers 
to  which  the  public  interests  in  every  quarter  were  now  10 
exposed,  made  both  Lord  North  and  the  Company  unwilling 
to  part  with  a  Governor  whose  talents,  experience,  and 
resolution,  enmity  itself  was  compelled  to  acknowledge. 

The  crisis  was  indeed  formidable.  That  great  and  vic- 
torious empire,  on  the  throne  of  which  George  the  Third 
had  taken  his  seat  eighteen  years  before,  with  brighter 
hopes  than  had  attended  the  accession  of  any  of  the  long 
line  of  English  sovereigns,  had,  by  the  most  senseless  mis- 
government,  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  In  America 
millions  of  Englishmen  were  at  war  with  the  country  from  20 
which  their  blood,  their  language,  their  religion,  and  their 
institutions  were  derived,  and  to  which,  but  a  short  time 
before,  they  had  been  as  strongly  attached  as  the  inhabitants 
of  Norfolk  and  Leicestershire.  The  great  powers  of  Europe, 
humbled  to  the  dust  by  the  vigour  and  genius  which  had 
guided  the  councils  of  George  the  Second,  now  rejoiced  in 
the  prospect  of  a  signal  revenge.  The  time  was  approaching 
when  our  island,  while  struggling  to  keep  down  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  pressed  with  a  still  nearer  danger  by  *  "' 
the  too  just  discontents  of  Ireland,  was  to  be  assailed  by  30 
France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  and  to  be  threatened  by  the 
armed  neutrality  of  the  Baltic  ;  when  even  our  maritime 
supremacy  was  to  be  in  jeopardy  ;  when  hostile  fleets  were 
to  command  the  Straits  of  Calpe  and  the  Mexican  Sea ; 
when  the  British  flag  was  to  be  scarcely  able  to  protect  the 
British  Channel.     Great  as  were  the  faults  of  Hastings,  it 


52  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

was  happy  for  our  country  that  at  that  conjuncture,  the 
most  terrible  through  which  she  has  ever  passed,  he  was 
the  ruler  of  her  Indian  dominions.  ^ 

An  attack  by  sea  on  Bengal  was  little  to  be  apprehended. 
The  danger  was  that  the  European  enemies  of  England 
might  form  an  alliance  with  some  native  power,  might 
furnish  that  power  with  troops,  arms,  and  ammunition,  and 
might  thus  assail  our  possessions  on  the  side  of  the  land. 
It  was  chiefly  from  the  Mahrattas  that  Hastings  anticipated 

10  danger.  The  original  seat  of  that  singular  people  was  the 
wild  range  of  hills  which  runs  along  the  western  coast  of 
India.  In  the  reign  of  Aurungzebe  the  inhabitants  of  those 
regions,  led  by  the  great  Sevajee,  began  to  descend  on  the 
possessions  of  their  wealthier  and  less  warlike  neighbours. 
The  energy,  ferocity,  and  cunning  of  the  Mahrattas,  soon 
made  them  the  most  conspicuous  among  the  new  powers 
which  were  generated  by  the  corruption  of  the  decaying 
monarchy.  At  first  they  were  only  robbers.  They  soon  rose 
to  the  dignity  of  conquerors.      Half  the  provinces  of  the 

20  empire  were  turned  into  Mahratta  principalities.  Free- 
booters, sprung  from  low  castes,  and  accustomed  to  menial 
employments,  became  mighty  Rajahs.  The  Bonslas,  at  the 
head  of  a  band  of  plunderers,  occupied  the  vast  region  of 
Berar.  The  Guicowar,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  the 
Herdsman,  founded  that  dynasty  which  still  reigns  in 
Guzerat.  The  houses  of  Scindia  and  Holkar  waxed  great 
in  Malwa.  One  adventurous  captain  made  his  nest  on  the 
inpregnable  rock  of  Gooti.  Another  became  the  lord  of  the 
thousand  villages  which  are  scattered  among  the  green  rice- 

30  fields  of  Tanjore. 

That  was  the  time,  throughout  India,  of  double  govern- 
ment. The  form  and  the  power  were  every  where  separated. 
The  Mussulman  nabobs  who  had  become  sovereign  princes, 
the  Vizier  in  Oude,  and  the  Nizam  at  Hyderabad,  still  called 
themselves  the  viceroys  of  the  house  of  Tamerlane.  In  the 
same  manner  the  Mahratta  states,  though  really  independent 


W^Y-vV^v 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  53 

of  each  other,  pretended  to  be  members  of  one  empire.  They 
all  acknowledged,  by  words  and  ceremonies,  the  supremacy  g-J 
of  the  heir  of  Sevajee,  a  roi^  faineant  who  chewed  bang  and 
toyed  with  dancing  girls  in  a  state  prison  at  Sattara,  and  of  ^^^tci 
his  Peshwa  or  mayor  of  the  palace,  a  great  hereditary  magis- 
trate, who  kept  a  court  with  kingly  state  at  Poonah,  and 
whose  authority  was  obeyed  in  the  spacious  provinces  of 
Aurungabad  and  Bejapoor. 

Some  months  before  war  was  declared  in  Europe  the 
government  of  Bengal  was  alarmed  by  the  news  that  a  10 
French  adventurer,  who  passed  for  a  man  of  quality,  had 
arrived  at  Poonah.  It  was  said  that  he  had  been  received 
there  with  great  distinction,  that  he  had  delivered  to  the 
Peshwa  letters  and  presents  from  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  and 
that  a  treaty,  hostile  to  England,  had  been  concluded  between 
France  and  the  Mahrattas. 

Hastings  immediately  resolved  to  strike  the  first  blow. 
The  title  of  the  Peshwa  was  not  undisputed.  A  portion  of 
the  Mahratta  nation  was  favourable  to  a  pretender.  The 
Governor-General  determined  to  espouse  this  pretender's  20 
interest,  to  move  an  army  across  the  peninsula  of  India,  and 
to  form  a  close  alliance  with  the  chief  of  the  house  of  Bonsla, 
who  ruled  Berar,  and  who,  in  power  and  dignity,  was  inferior 
to  none  of  the  Mahratta  princes. 

The  army  had  marched,  and  the  negotiations  with  Berar 
were  in  progress,  when  a  letter  from  the  English  consul  at 
Cairo  brought  the  news  that  war  had  been  proclaimed  both 
in  London  and  Paris.  All  the  measures  which  the  crisis 
required  were  adopted  by  Hastings  without  a  moment's 
delay.  The  French  factories  in  Bengal  were  seized.  Orders  30 
were  sent  to  Madras  that  Pondicherry  should  instantly  be 
occupied.  Near  Calcutta,  works  were  thrown  up  which  were 
thought  to  render  the  approach  of  a  hostile  force  impossible. 
A  maritime  establishment  was  formed  for  the  defence  of  the 
river.  Nine  new  battalions  of  sepoys  were  raised,  and  a 
corps  of  native  artillery  was  formed  out  of  the  hardy  Lascars 


54  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Having  made  these  arrangements, 
the  Governor-General  with  calm  confidence  pronounced  his 
presidency  secure  from  all  attack,  unless  the  Mahrattas 
should  march  against  it  in  conjunction  with  the  French. 

The  expedition  which  Hastings  had  sent  westward  was 
not  so  speedily  or  completely  successful  as  most  of  his  under- 
takings. The  commanding  officer  procrastinated.  The 
authorities  at  Bombay  blundered.  But  the  Governor- 
General  persevered.     A  new  commander  repaired  the  errors 

10  of  his  predecessor.  Several  brilliant  actions  spread  the 
military  renown  of  the  English  through  regions  where  no 
European  flag  had  ever  been  seen.  [It^is  probable  that,  if  a 
new  and  more  formidable  danger  had  not  compelled  Hastings 
to  change  his  whole  policy,  his  plans  respecting  the  Mahratta 
empire  would  have  been  carried  into  complete  effect. 

The  authorities  in  England  had  wisely  sent  out  to  Bengal, 
as  commander  of  the  forces  and  member  of  the  council,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  soldiers  of  that  time.  Sir  Eyre 
Coote  had,  many  years  before,  been  conspicuous  among  the 

20  founders  of  the  British  empire  in  the  East.  At  the  council 
of  war  which  preceded  the  battle  of  Plassey,  he  earnestly 
recommended,  in  opposition  to  the  majority,  that  daring 
course  which,  after  some  hesitation,  was  adopted,  and  which 
was  crowned  with  such  splendid  success.  He  subsequently 
commanded  in  the  south  of  India  against  the  brave  and  un- 
fortunate Lally,  gained  the  decisive  battle  of  Wandewash 
over  the  French  and  their  native  allies,  took  Pondicherry, 
and  made  the  English  power  supreme  in  the  Carnatic.  Since 
those  great  exploits  near  twenty  years  had  elapsed.     Coote 

30  had  no  longer  the  bodily  activity  which  he  had  shown  in 
earlier  days  ;  nor  was  the  vigour  of  his  mind  altogether  un- 
impaired. He  was  capricious  and  fretful,  and  required  much 
coaxing  to  keep  him  in  good  humour.  It  must,  we  fear,  be 
t/  added  that  the  love  of  money  had  grown  upon  him,  and  that 
he  thought  more  about  his  allowances,  and  less  about  his 
duties,  than  might  have  been  expected  from  so  eminent  a 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  55 

member  of  so  noble  a  profession.  Still  he  was  perhaps  the 
ablest  officer  that  was  then  to  be  found  in  the  British  army. 
Among  the  native  soldiers  his  name  was  great  and  his 
influence  unrivalled.  Nor  is  he  yet  forgotten  by  them. 
Now  and  then  a  white-bearded  old  sepoy  may  still  be  found, 
who  loves  to  talk  of  Porto  Novo  and  Pollilore.  It  is  but  a 
short  time  since  one  of  those  aged  men  came  to  present  a 
memorial  to  an  English  officer,  who  holds  one  of  the  highest 
employments  in  India.  A  print  of  Coote  hung  in  the  room.  ..-  >- 
The  veteran  recognised  at  once  that  face  and  figure  which  he  10 
had  not  seen  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and,  forgetting 
his  salam  to  the  living,  halted,  drew  himself  up,  lifted  his 
hand,  and  with  solemn  reverence  paid  his  military  obeisance 
to  the  dead. 

Coote,  though  he  did  not,  like  Barwell,  vote  constantly 
with  the  Governor-General,  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  join 
in  systematic  opposition,  and  on  most  questions  concurred 
with  Hastings,  who  did  his  best,  by  assiduous  courtship,  and 
by  readily  granting  the  most  exorbitant  allowances,  to 
gratify  the  strongest  passions  of  the  old  soldier.  20 

It  seemed  likely  at  this  time  that  a  general  reconciliation 
would  put  an  end  to  the  quarrels  which  had,  during  some 
years,  weakened  and  disgraced  the  government  of  Bengal. 
The  dangers  of  the  empire  might  well  induce  men  of 
patriotic  feeling — and  of  patriotic  feeling  neither  Hastings 
nor  Francis  was  destitute — to  forget  private  enmities,  and  to 
co-operate  heartily  for  the  general  good.  Coote  had  never 
been  concerned  in  faction.  Wheler  was  thoroughly  tired  of 
it.  Barwell  had  made  an  ample  fortune,  and,  though  he  had 
promised  that  he  would  not  leave  Calcutta  while  his  help  was  30 
needed  in  Council,  was  most  desirous  to  return  to  England, 
and  exerted  himself  to  promote  an  arrangement  which  would 
set  him  at  liberty.  A  compact  was  made,  by  which  Francis 
agreed  to  desist  from  opposition,  and  Hastings  engaged  that 
the  friends  of  Francis  should  be  admitted  to  a  fair  share  of 
the  honours  and  emoluments  of  the  service.     During  a  few 


56  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

v  ^      months  after  this  treaty  there  was  apparent  harmony  at  the 

f-  "*    council-board.  £ 

%  ^  <f  Harmony,  indeed,  was  never  more  necessary  ;  for  at  this 

^      moment  internal  calamities,  more  formidable  than  war  itself, 

menaced  Bengal.    The  authors  of  the  Regulating  Act  of  1773 

had  established  two  independent  powers,  the  one  judicial, 

the  other  political ;   and,  with  a  carelessness  scandalously 

common  in  English  legislation,   had  omitted  to  define  the 

limits  of  either.    The  judges  took  advantage  of  the  indistinct- 

10  ness,  and  attempted  to  draw  to  themselves  supreme  authority, 
not  only  within  Calcutta,  but  through  the  whole  of  the  great 
territory  subject  to  the  presidency  of  Fort  William.  There 
are  few  Englishmen  who  will  not  admit  that  the  English 
law,  in  spite  of  modern  improvements,  is  neither  so  cheap 
nor  so  speedy  as  might  be  wished.  Still,  it  is  a  system  which 
has  grown  up  among  us.  In  some  points,  it  has  been 
fashioned  to  suit  our  feelings ;  in  others,  it  has  gradually 
fashioned  our  feelings  to  suit  itself.  Even  to  its  worst  evils 
we  are  accustomed ;  and,  therefore,  though  we  may  complain 

20  of  them,  they  do  not  strike  us  with  the  horror  and  dismay 
which  would  be  produced  by  a  new  grievance  of  smaller 
severity.  In  India  the  case  is  widely  different.  English 
law,  transplanted  to  that  country,  has  all  the  vices  from 
which  we  suffer  here ;  it  has  them  all  in  a  far  higher  degree ; 
and  it  has  other  vices,  compared  with  which  the  worst  vices 
from  which  we  suffer  are  trifles.  Dilatory  here,  it  is  far 
more  dilatory  in  a  land  where  the  help  of  an  interpreter  is 
needed  by  every  judge  and  by  every  advocate.  Costly  here, 
it  is  far  more  costly  in  a  land  into  which  the  legal  practi- 

30  tioners  must  be  imported  from  an  immense  distance.  All 
English  labour  in  India,  from  the  labour  of  the  Governor- 
General  and  the  Commander-in-Chief,  down  to  that  of  a 
groom  or  a  watchmaker,  must  be  paid  for  at  a  higher  rate 
than  at  home.  No  man  will  be  banished,  and  banished  to 
the  torrid  zone,  for  nothing.  The  rule  holds  good  with 
respect  to  the  legal  profession.     No  English  barrister  will 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  57 

work,  fifteen  thousand  miles  from  all  his  friends,  with  the 
thermometer  at  ninety-six  in  the  shade,  for  the  emoluments 
which  will  content  him  in  chambers  that  overlook  the 
Thames.  Accordingly,  the  fees  at  Calcutta  are  about  three 
times  as  great  as  the  fees  of  Westminster  Hall ;  and  this, 
though  the  people  of  India  are,  beyond  all  comparison,  poorer 
than  the  people  of  England.  Yet  the  delay  and  the  expense, 
grievous  as  they  are,  form  the  smallest  part  of  the  evil  which 
English  law,  imported  without  modifications  into  India, 
could  not  fail  to  produce.  The  strongest  feelings  of  our  10 
nature,  honour,  religion,  female  modesty,  rose  up  against  the 
innovation.  Arrest  on  mesne  process  was  the  first  step  in 
most  civil  proceedings  ;  and  to  a  native  of  rank  arrest  was 
not  merely  a  restraint,  but  a  foul  personal  indignity.  Oaths 
were  required  in  every  stage  of  every  suit ;  and  the  feeling 
of  a  Quaker  about  an  oath  is  hardly  stronger  than  that  of  a 
respectable  native.  That  the  apartments  of  a  woman  of 
quality  should  be  entered  by  strange  men,  or  that  her  face 
should  be  seen  by  them,  are,  in  the  East,  intolerable  out- 
rages, outrages  which  are  more  dreaded  than  death,  and  20 
which  can  be  expiated  only  by  the  shedding  of  blood.  To 
these  outrages  the  most  distinguished  families  of  Bengal, 
Bahar,  and  Orissa,  were  now  exposed.  Imagine  what  the 
state  of  our  own  country  would  be,  if  a  jurisprudence  were 
on  a  sudden  introduced  among  us,  which  should  be  to  us 
what  our  jurisprudence  was  to  our  Asiatic  subjects.  Imagine 
what  the  state  of  our  country  would  be,  if  it  were  enacted 
that  any  man,  by  merely  swearing  that  a  debt  was  due  to 
him,  should  acquire  a  right  to  insult  the  persons  of  men  of 
the  most  honourable  and  sacred  callings  and  of  women  of  the  30 
most  shrinking  delicacy,  to  horsewhip  a  general  officer,  to  put 
a  bishop  in  the  stocks,  to  treat  ladies  in  the  way  which  called 
forth  the  blow  of  Wat  Tyler.  Something  like  this  was  the 
effect  of  the  attempt  which  the  Supreme  Court  made  to 
extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of  the  Company's 
territory. 


58  WARREN"  HASTINGS. 

A  reign  of  terror  began,  of  terror  heightened  by  mystery  ; 
for  even  that  which  was  endured  was  less  horrible  than  that 
which  was  anticipated.  No  man  knew  what  was  next  to  be 
expected  from  this  strange  tribunal.  It  came  from  beyond 
the  black  water,  as  the  people  of  India,  with  mysterious 
horror,  call  the  sea.  It  consisted  of  judges  not  one  of  whom 
was  familiar  with  the  usages  of  the  millions  over  whom 
they  claimed  boundless  authority  Its  records  were  kept 
in  unknown  characters  ;   its  sentences  were  pronounced  in 

10  unknown  sounds.  It  had  already  collected  round  itself  an 
army  of  the  worst  part  of  the  native  population,  informers, 
and  false  witnesses,  and  common  barrators,  and  agents  of 
chicane,  and,  above  all,  a  banditti  of  bailiffs'  followers, 
compared  with  whom  the  retainers  of  the  worst  English 
spunging-houses,  in  the  worst  times,  might  be  considered 
as  upright  and  tender-hearted.  Many  natives,  highly  con- 
sidered among  their  countrymen,  were  seized,  hurried  up  to 
Calcutta,  flung  into  the  common  gaol,  not  for  any  crime 
even  imputed,  not  for  any  debt  that  had  been  proved,  but 

20  merely  as  a  precaution  till  their  cause  should  come  to  trial. 
There  were  instances  in  which  men  of  the  most  venerable 
dignity,  persecuted  without  a  cause  by  extortioners,  died  of 
rage  and  shame  in  the  gripe  of  the  vile  alguazils  of  Impey. 
The  harams  of  noble  Mahommedans,  sanctuaries  respected  in 
the  East,  by  governments  which  respected  nothing  else, 
were  burst  open  by  gangs  of  bailiffs.  The  Mussulmans, 
braver  and  less  accustomed  to  submission  than  the  Hindoos, 
sometimes  stood  on  their  defence  ;  and  there  were  instances 
in  which   they   shed   their    blood    in   the   doorway,   while 

30  defending,  sword  in  hand,  the  sacred  apartments  of  their 
women.  Nay,  it  seemed  as  if  even  the  faint-hearted 
Bengalee,  who  had  crouched  at  the  feet  of  Surajah  Dowlah, 
who  had  been  mute  during  the  administration  of  Yansittart, 
would  at  length  find  courage  in  despair.  No  Mahratta 
invasion  had  ever  spread  through  the  province  such  dismay 
as  this   inroad   of   English   lawyers.      All  the   injustice  of 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  59 

former  oppressors,  Asiatic  and  European,  appeared  as  a 
blessing  when  compared  with  the  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court. 

Every  class  of  the  population,  English  and  native,  with 
the  exception  of  the  ravenous  pettifoggers  who  fattened  on 
the  misery  and  terror  of  an  immense  community,  cried  out 
loudly  against  this  fearful  oppression.  But  the  judges  were 
immovable.  If  a  bailiff  was  resisted,  they  ordered  the 
soldiers  to  be  called  out.  ^f  a  servant  of  the  Company,  in 
conformity  with  the  orders  of  the  government,  withstood  10 
the  miserable  catchpoles  who,  with  Impey's  writs  in  their 
hands,  exceeded  the  insolence  and  rapacity  of  gang-robbers, 
he  was  flung  into  prison  for  a  contempt.  The  lapse  of  sixty 
years,  the  virtue  and  wisdom  of  many  eminent  magistrates 
who  have  during  that  time  administered  justice  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  have  not  effaced  from  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  Bengal  the  recollection  of  those  evil  days. 

The  members  of  the  government  were,  on  this  subject, 
united  as  one  man.  Hastings  had  courted  the  judges  ;  he 
had  found  them  useful  instruments.  But  he  was  not  dis-  20 
posed  to  make  them  his  own  masters,  or  the  masters  of 
India.  His  mind  was  large  ;  his  knowledge  of  the  native 
character  most  accurate.  He  saw  that  the  system  pursued 
by  the  Supreme  Court  was  degrading  to  the  government  and 
ruinous  to  the  people  ;  and  he  resolved  to  oppose  it  man- 
fully. The  consequence  was,  that  the  friendship,  if  that  be 
the  proper  word  for  such  a  connection,  which  had  existed 
between  him  and  Impey,  was  for  a  time  completely  dis- 
solved. The  government  placed  itself  firmly  between  the 
tyrannical  tribunal  and  the  people.  The  Chief  Justice  pro-  30 
ceeded  to  the  wildest  excesses.  The  Governor-General  and 
all  the  members  of  Council  were  served  with  writs,  calling 
on  them  to  appear  before  the  King's  justices,  and  to  answer 
for  their  public  acts.  This  was  too  much.  Hastings,  with 
just  scorn,  refused  to  obey  the  call,  set  at  liberty  the  persons 
wrongfully  detained  by  the  Court,  and  took  measures  for 


60  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

resisting  the  outrageous  proceedings  of  the  sheriffs'  officers, 
if  necessary,  by  the  sword.  But  he  had  in  view  another 
device  which  might  prevent  the  necessity  of  an  appeal  to 
arms.  He  was  seldom  at  a  loss  for  an  expedient ;  and  he 
knew  Impey  well.  The  expedient,  in  this  case,  was  a  very 
simple  one,  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  bribe.  Impey  was, 
by  act  of  parliament,  a  judge,  independent  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Bengal,  and  entitled  to  a  salary  of  eight  thousand  a 
year.     Hastings  proposed  to  make  him  also  a  judge  in  the 

10  Company's  service,  removable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Bengal ;  and  to  give  him,  in  that  capacity,  about 
eight  thousand  a  year  more.  It  was  understood  that,  in 
consideration  of  this  new  salary,  Impey  would  desist  from 
urging  the  high  pretensions  of  his  court.  If  he  did  urge 
these  pretensions,  the  government  could,  at  a  moment's 
notice,  eject  him  from  the  new  place  which  had  been  created 
for  him.  The  bargain  was  struck  ;  Bengal  was  saved  ;  an 
appeal  to  force  was  averted  ;  and  the  Chief  Justice  was  rich, 
quiet,  and  infamous. 

20  Of  Impey's  conduct  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.  It  was  of 
a  piece  with  almost  every  part  of  his  conduct  that  comes 
under  the  notice  of  history.  No  other  such  judge  has  dis- 
honoured the  English  ermine,  since  Jefferies  drank  himself 
to  death  in  the  Tower.  But  we  cannot  agree  with  those 
who  have  blamed  Hastings  for  this  transaction.  The  case 
stood  thus.  The  negligent  manner  in  which  the  Regulating 
Act  had  been  framed  put  it  in  the  power  of  the  Chief 
Justice  to  throw  a  great  country  into  the  most  dreadful 
confusion.     He  was  determined   to   use   his  power  to   the 

30  utmost,  unless  he  was  paid  to  be  still :  and  Hastings  con- 
sented to  pay  him  The  necessity  was  to  be  deplored.  It  is 
also  to  be  deplored  that  pirates  should  be  able  to  exact 
ransom  by  threatening  to  make  their  captives  walk  the 
plank.  But  to  ransom  a  captive  from  pirates  has  always 
been  held  a  humane  and  Christian  act ;  and  it  would  be 
absurd  to  charge  the  payer  of  the  ransom  with  corrupting 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  61 

fclie  virtue  of  the  corsair.  This,  we  seriously  think,  is  a 
not  unfair  illustration  of  the  relative  position  of  Impey, 
Hastings,  and  the  people  of  India.  Whether  it  was  right 
in  Impey  to  demand  or  to  accept  a  price  for  powers  which, 
if  they  really  belonged  to  him,  he  could  not  abdicate,  which, 
if  they  did  not  belong  to  him,  he  ought  never  to  have 
usurped,  and  which  in  neither  case  he  could  honestly  sell, 
is  one  question.  It  is  quite  another  question,  whether 
Hastings  was  not  right  to  give  any  sum,  however  large,  to 
any  man,  however  worthless,  rather  than  either  surrender  10 
millions  of  human  beings  to  pillage,  or  rescue  them  by  civil 
war. 

Francis  strongly  opposed  this  arrangement.  It  may, 
indeed,  be  suspected  that  personal  aversion  to  Impey  was 
as  strong  a  motive  with  Francis  as  regard  for  the  welfare 
of  the  province.  To  a  mind  burning  with  resentment,  it 
might  seem  better  to  leave  Bengal  to  the  oppressors  than 
to  redeem  it  by  enriching  them.  It  is  not  improbable,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  Hastings  may  have  been  the  more 
willing  to  resort  to  an  expedient  agreeable  to  the  Chief  20 
Justice,  because  that  high  functionary  had  already  been  so 
serviceable,  and  might,  when  existing  dissensions  were  com- 
posed, be  serviceable  again.  # 
v  But  it  was  not  on  this  point  alone  that  Francis  was  now 
opposed  to  Hastings.  The  peace  between  them  proved  to  be 
only  a  short  and  hollow  truce,  during  which  their  mutual 
aversion  was  constantly  becoming  stronger.  At  length  an 
explosion  took  place.  Hastings  publicly  charged  Francis 
with  having  deceived  him,  and  with  having  induced  Barwell 
to  quit  the  service  by  insincere  promises.  Then  came  a  dis-  30 
pute,  such  as  frequently  arises  even  between  honourable  men, 
when  they  may  make  important  agreements  by  mere  verbal 
communication.  An  impartial  historian  will  probably  be  of 
opinion  that  they  had  misunderstood  each  other ;  but  their 
minds  were  so  much  embittered  that  they  imputed  to  each 
other  nothing  less  than  deliberate  villany.     "  I  do  not,"  said 


62  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Hastings,  in  a  minute  recorded  on  the  Consultations  of  the 
Government,  "I  do  not  trust  to  Mr.  Francis's  promises  of 
candour,  convinced  that  he  is  incapable  of  it.  I  judge  of  his 
public  conduct  by  his  private,  which  I  have  found  to  be  void 
of  truth  and  honour."  After  the  Council  had  risen,  Francis 
put  a  challenge  into  the  Governor-General's  hand.  It  was 
instantly  accepted.  They  met,  and  fired.  Francis  was  shot 
through  the  body.  He  was  carried  to  a  neighbouring  house, 
where  it  appeared  that  the  wound,  though  severe,  was  not 

10  mortal.  Hastings  inquired  repeatedly  after  his  enemy's 
health,  and  proposed  to  call  on  him  ;  but  Francis  coldly 
declined  the  visit.  He  had  a  proper  sense,  he  said,  of  the 
Governor-General's  politeness,  but  could  not  consent  to  any 
private  interview.  They  could  meet  only  at  the  council- 
board. 

In  a  very  short  time  it  was  made  signally  manifest  to  how 
great  a  danger  the  Governor-General  had,  on  this  occasion, 
exposed  his  country.  A  crisis  arrived  with  which  he,  and  he 
alone,  was  competent  to  deal.    It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that, 

20  if  he  had  been  taken  from  the  head  of  affairs,  the  years  1780 
and  1781  would  have  been  as  fatal  to  our  power  in  Asia  as  to 
our  power  in  America.  ^/* 

The  Mahrattas  had  been  the  chief  objects  of  apprehension 
to  Hastings.  The  measures  which  he  had  adopted  for  the 
purpose  of  breaking  their  power,  had  at  first  been  frustrated 
by  the  errors  of  those  whom  he  was  compelled  to  employ  ; 
but  his  perseverance  and  ability  seemed  likely  to  be  crowned 
with  success,  when  a  far  more  formidable  danger  showed 
itself  in  a  distant  quarter. 

30  About  thirty  years  before  this  time,  a  Mahommedan 
soldier  had  begun  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  wars  of 
Southern  India.  His  education  had  been  neglected  ;  his 
extraction  was  humble.  His  father  had  been  a  petty  officer 
of  revenue  ;  his  grandfather  a  wandering  dervise.  But 
though  thus  meanly  descended,  though  ignorant  even  of 
the  alphabet,  the  adventurer  had  no  sooner  been  placed  at 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  63 

the  head  of  a  body  of  troops  than  he  approved  himself  a 
man  born  for  conquest  and  command.  Among  the  crowd 
of  chiefs  who  were  struggling  for  a  share  of  India,  none 
could  compare  with  him  in  the  qualities  of  the  captain  and 
the  statesman.  He  became  a  general  ;  he  became  a  sove- 
reign. Out  of  the  fragments  of  old  principalities,  which 
had  gone  to  pieces  in  the  general  wreck,  he  formed  for 
himself  a  great,  compact,  and  vigorous  empire.  That  empire 
he  ruled  with  the  ability,  severity,  and  vigilance  of  Louis 
the  Eleventh.  Licentious  in  his  pleasures,  implacable  in  10 
his  revenge,  he  had  yet  enlargement  of  mind  enough  to 
perceive  how  much  the  prosperity  of  subjects  adds  to  the 
strength  of  governments.  He  was  an  oppressor  ;  but  he 
had  at  least  the  merit  of  protecting  his  people  against  all 
oppression  except  his  own.  He  was  now  in  extreme  old 
age  ;  but  his  intellect  was  as  clear,  and  his  spirit  as  high, 
as  in  the  prime  of  manhood.  Such  was  the  great  Hyder 
Ali,  the  founder  of  the  Mahommedan  kingdom  of  Mysore, 
and  the  most  formidable  enemy  with  whom  the  English 
conquerors  of  India  have  ever  had  to  contend.  20 

Had  Hastings  been  governor  of  Madras,  Hyder  would 
have  been  either  made  a  friend,  or  vigorously  encountered 
as  an  enemy.  Unhappily  the  English  authorities  in  the 
south  provoked  their  powerful  neighbour's  hostility,  with- 
out being  prepared  to  repel  it.  On  a  sudden,  an  army  of 
ninety  thousand  men,  far  superior  in  discipline  and  effici- 
ency to  any  other  native  force  that  could  be  found  in 
India,  came  pouring  through  those  wild  passes  which,  worn 
by  mountain  torrents,  and  dark  with  jungle,  lead  down  from 
the  table-land  of  Mysore  to  the  plains  of  the  Carnatic.  This  30 
great  army  was  accompanied  by  a  hundred  pieces  of  cannon  ; 
and  its  movements  were  guided  by  many  French  officers, 
trained  in  the  best  military  schools  of  Europe. 

Hyder  was  every  where  triumphant.  The  sepoys  in  many 
British  garrisons  flung  down  their  arms.  Some  forts  were 
surrendered  by  treachery,  and  some  by  despair.      In  a  few 


64  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

days  the  whole  open  country  north  of  the  Coleroon  had  sub- 
mitted. The  English  inhabitants  of  Madras  could  already 
see  by  night,  from  the  top  of  Mount  St.  Thomas,  the  eastern 
sky  reddened  by  a  vast  semicircle  of  blazing  villages.  The 
white  villas,  to  which  our  countrymen  retire  after  the  daily 
labours  of  government  and  of  trade,  when  the  cool  evening 
breeze  springs  up  from  the  bay,  were  now  left  without 
inhabitants  ;  for  bands  of  the  fierce  horsemen  of  Mysore 
had  already  been  seen  prowling  among  the  tulip-trees,  and 

10  near  the  gay  verandas.  Even  the  town  was  not  thought 
secure,  and  the  British  merchants  and  public  functionaries 
made  haste  to  crowd  themselves  behind  the  cannon  of  Fort 
St.  George. 

There  were  the  means  indeed  of  assembling  an  army 
which  might  have  defended  the  presidency,  and  even  driven 
the  invader  back  to  his  mountains.  Sir  Hector  Munro 
was  at  the  head  of  one  considerable  force  ;  Baillie  was 
advancing  with  another.  United,  they  might  have  pre- 
sented a  formidable  front  even  to  such  an  enemy  as  Hyder. 

20  But  the  English  commanders,  neglecting  those  fundamental 
rules  of  the  military  art  of  which  the  propriety  is  obvious 
even  to  men  who  had  never  received  a  military  education, 
deferred  their  junction,  and  were  separately  attacked. 
Baillie's  detachment  was  destroyed.  Munro  was  forced  to 
abandon  his  baggage,  to  fling  his  guns  into  the  tanks,  and 
to  save  himself  by  a  retreat  which  might  be  called  a 
flight.  In  three  weeks  from  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  the  British  empire  in  Southern  India  had  been 
brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin.     Only  a  few  fortified  places 

30  remained  to  us.  The  glory  of  our  arms  had  departed.  It 
was  known  that  a  great  French  expedition  might  soon  be 
expected  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel.  England,  beset  by 
enemies  on  every  side,  was  in  no  condition  to  protect  such 
remote  dependencies. 

Then  it  was  that  the  fertile  genius  and  serene  courage  of 
Hastings  achieved  their  most  signal  triumph.     A  swift  ship, 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  65 

flying  before  the  south-west  monsoon,  brought  the  evil 
tidings  in  few  days  to  Calcutta.  In  twenty -four  hours  the 
Governor-General  had  framed  a  complete  plan  of  policy 
adapted  to  the  altered  state  of  affairs.  The  struggle  with 
Hyder  was  a  struggle  for  life  and  death.  All  minor  objects 
must  be  sacrificed  to  the  preservation  of  the  Carnatic. 
The  disputes  with  the  Mahrattas  must  be  accommodated. 
A  large  military  force  and  a  supply  of  money  must  be 
instantly  sent  to  Madras.  But  even  these  measures  would 
be  insufficient,  unless  the  war,  hitherto  so  grossly  mis-  10 
managed,  were  placed  under  the  direction  of  a  vigorous 
mind.  It  was  no  time  for  trifling.  Hastings  determined  to 
resort  to  an  extreme  exercise  of  power,  to  suspend  the 
incapable  governor  of  Fort  St.  George,  to  send  Sir  Eyre 
Coote  to  oppose  Hyder,  and  to  intrust  that  distinguished 
general  with  the  whole  administration  of  the  war. 

In  spite  of  the  sullen  opposition  of  Francis,  who  had  now 
recovered  from  his  wound,  and  had  returned  to  the  Council, 
the  Governor-General's  wise  and  firm  policy  was  approved 
by  the  majority  of  the  board.  The  reinforcements  were  20 
sent  off  with  great  expedition,  and  reached  Madras  before 
the  French  armament  arrived  in  the  Indian  seas.  Coote, 
broken  by  age  and  disease,  was  no  longer  the  Coote  of 
Wandewash  ;  but  he  was  still  a  resolute  and  skilful  com- 
mander. The  progress  of  Hyder  was  arrested  ;  and  in  a 
few  months  the  great  victory  of  Porto  Novo  retrieved  the 
honour  of  the  English  arms. 

In  the  mean  time  Francis  had  returned  to  England,  and 
Hastings  was  now  left  perfectly  unfettered.  Wheler  had 
gradually  been  relaxing  in  his  opposition,  and,  after  the  30 
departure  of  his  vehement  and  implacable  colleague,  co- 
operated heartily  with  the  Governor-General,  whose  influ- 
ence over  the  British  in  India,  always  great,  had,  by  the 
vigour  and  success  of  his  recent  measures,  been  considerably 
increased. 

But,  though  the  difficulties  arising  from  factions  within 


66  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

the  Council  were  at  an  end,  another  class  of  difficulties  had 
become  more  pressing  than  ever.  The  financial  embarrass- 
ment was  extreme.  Hastings  had  to  find  the  means,  not 
only  of  carrying  on  the  government  of  Bengal,  but  of  main- 
taining a  most  costly  war  against  both  Indian  and  European 
enemies  in  the  Carnatic,  and  of  making  remittances  to 
England.  A  few  years  before  this  time  he  had  obtained 
relief  by  plundering  the  Mogul  and  enslaving  the  Rohillas  ; 
nor  were  the  resources  of  his  fruitful  mind  by  any  means 

W  exhausted. 

His  first  design  was  on  Benares,  a  city  which  in  wealth, 
population,  dignity,  and  sanctity,  was  among  the  foremost  of 
Asia.  ^It  was  commonly  believed  that  half  a  million  of 
human  beings  was  crowded  into  that  labyrinth  of  lofty 
alleys,  rich  with  shrines,  and  minarets,  and  balconies,  and 
carved  oriels,  to  which  the  sacred  apes  clung  by  hundreds. 
The  traveller  could  scarcely  make  his  way  through  the  press 
of  holy  mendicants  and  not  less  holy  bulls.  The  broad  and 
stately  flights  of  steps  which  descended  from  these  swarming 

20  haunts  to  the  bathing-places  along  the  Ganges  were  worn 
every  day  by  the  footsteps  of  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
worshippers.  The  schools  and  temples  drew  crowds  of  pious 
Hindoos  from  every  province  where  the  Brahminical  faith 
was  known.  Hundreds  of  devotees  came  thither  every 
month  to  die  :  for  it  was  believed  that  a  peculiarly  happy 
fate  awaited  the  man  who  should  pass  from  the  sacred  city 
into  the  sacred  river.  Nor  was  superstition  the  only  motive 
which  allured  strangers  to  that  great  metropolis.  Commerce 
had  as  many  pilgrims  as  religion.     All  along  the  shores  of 

30  the  venerable  stream  lay  great  fleets  of  vessels  laden  with 
rich  merchandise.  From  the  looms  of  Benares  went  forth 
the  most  delicate  silks  that  adorned  the  balls  of  St.  James's 
and  of  the  Petit  Trianon :  and  in  the  bazaars  the  muslins  of 
Bengal  and  the  sabres  of  Oude  were  mingled  with  the  jewels 
of  Golconda  and  the  shawls  of  Cashmere.  This  rich  capital, 
and  the  surrounding  tract,  had  long  been  under  the  immedi- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  67 

ate  rule  of  a  Hindoo  prince  who  rendered  homage  to  the 
Mogul  emperors.  During  the  great  anarchy  of  India  the 
lords  of  Benares  became  independent  of  the  court  of  Delhi, 
but  were  compelled  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Nabob 
of  Oude.  Oppressed  by  this  formidable  neighbour,  they 
invoked  the  protection  of  the  English.  The  English  pro- 
tection was  given  ;  and  at  length  the  Nabob  Yizier,  by  a 
solemn  treaty,  ceded  all  his  rights  over  Benares  to  the 
Company.  From  that  time  the  Rajah  was  the  vassal  of  the 
government  of  Bengal,  acknowledged  its  supremacy,  and  10 
engaged  to  send  an  annual  tribute  to  Fort  William.  This 
tribute  Cheyte  Sing,  the  reigning  prince,  had  paid  with 
strict  punctuality. 

Respecting  the  precise  nature  of  the  legal  relation  between 
the  Company  and  the  Rajah  of  Benares,  there  has  been  much 
warm  and  acute  controversy.  On  the  one  side,  it  has  been 
maintained  that  Cheyte  Sing  was  merely  a  great  subject  on 
whom  the  superior  power  had  a  right  to  call  for  aid  in  the 
necessities  of  the  empire.  On  the  other  side  it  has  been 
contended  that  he  was  an  independent  prince,  that  the  only  20 
claim  which  the  Company  had  upon  him  was  for  a  fixed 
tribute,  and  that,  while  the  fixed  tribute  was  regularly  paid, 
as  it  assuredly  was,  the  English  had  no  more  right  to  exact 
any  further  contribution  from  him  than  to  demand  subsidies 
from  Holland  or  Denmark.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  find 
precedents  and  analogies  in  favour  of  either  view. 

Our  own  impression  is  that  neither  view  is  correct.  It 
was  too  much  the  habit  of  English  politicians  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  there  was  in  India  a  known  and  definite  con- 
stitution by  which  questions  of  this  kind  were  to  be  decided.  30 
The  truth  is  that,  during  the  interval  which  elapsed  between 
the  fall  of  the  House  of  Tamerlane  and  the  establishment  of 
the  British  ascendency,  there  was  no  such  constitution.  The 
old  order  of  things  had  psssed  away  :  the  new  order  of 
things  was  not  yet  formed.  All  was  transition,  confusion, 
obscurity.     Every  body  kept  his  head  as  he  best  might,  and 


68  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

scrambled  for  whatever  he  could  get.  There  have  been 
similar  seasons  in  Europe.  The  time  of  the  dissolution  of 
the  Carlovingian  empire  is  an  instance.  KWho  would  think 
of  seriously  discussing  the  question,  what  extent  of  pecuniary 
aid  and  of  obedience  Hugh  Capet  had  a  constitutional  right 
to  demand  from  the  Duke  of  Brittany  or  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy ?  The  words  "  constitutional  right n  had,  in  that 
state  of  society,  no  meaning.  If  Hugh  Capet  laid  hands  on 
all  the  possessions  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  this  might  be 

10  unjust  and  immoral ;  but  it  would  not  be  illegal,  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  ordinances  of  Charles  the  Tenth  were 
illegal.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  of  Normandy  made 
war  on  Hugh  Capet,  this  might  be  unjust  and  immoral ;  but 
it  would  not  be  illegal,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  expedition 
of  Prince  Louis  Bonaparte  was  illegal. 

Yery  similar  to  this  was  the  state  of  India  sixty  years  ago. 
Of  the  existing  governments  not  a  single  one  could  lay  claim 
to  legitimacy,  or  could  plead  any  other  title  than  recent 
occupation.     There  was  scarcely  a  province  in  which  the  real 

20  sovereignty  and  the  nominal  sovereignty  were  not  disjoined. 
Titles  and  forms  were  still  retained  which  implied  that  the 
heir  of  Tamerlane  was  an  absolute  ruler,  and  that  the 
Nabobs  of  the  provinces  were  his  lieutenants.  In  reality,  he 
was  a  captive.  The  Nabobs  were  in  some  places  independent 
princes.  In  other  places,  as  in  Bengal  and  the  Carnatic, 
they  had,  like  their  master,  become  mere  phantoms,  and  the 
Company  was  supreme.  Among  the  Malirattas  again  the 
heir  of  Sevajee  still  kept  the  title  of  Rajah  ;  but  he  was  a 
prisoner,  and  his  prime  minister,  the  Peshwa,  had  become 

30  the  hereditary  chief  of  the  state.  The  Peshwa,  in  his  turn, 
was  fast  sinking  into  the  same  degraded  situation  to  which 
he  had  reduced  the  Rajah.  It  was,  we  believe,  impossible  to 
find,  from  the  Himalayas  to  Mysore,  a  single  government 
which  was  at  once  a  government  de  facto  and  a  government 
dejure,  which  possessed  the  physical  means  of  making  itself 
feared  by  its  neighbours  and  subjects,  and  which  had  at 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  69 

the  same  time  the  authority  derived  from  law  and  long 
prescription. 

Hastings  clearly  discerned,  what  was  hidden  from  most 
of  his  contemporaries,  that  such  a  state  of  things  gave 
immense  advantages  to  a  ruler  of  great  talents  and  few 
scruples.  In  every  international  question  that  could  arise, 
he  had  his  option  between  the  de  facto  ground  and  the 
de  jure  ground ;  and  the  probability  was  that  one  of  those 
grounds  would  sustain  any  claim  that  it  might  be  con- 
venient for  him  to  make,  and  enable  him  to  resist  any  claim  10 
made  by  others.  In  every  controversy,  accordingly,  he 
resorted  to  the  plea  which  suited  his  immediate  purpose, 
without  troubling  himself  in  the  least  about  consistency ; 
and  thus  he  scarcely  ever  failed  to  find  what,  to  persons 
of  short  memories  and  scanty  information,  seemed  to  be  a 
justification  for  what  he  wanted  to  do.  Sometimes  the 
Nabob  of  Bengal  is  a  shadow,  sometimes  a  monarch. 
Sometimes  the  Vizier  is  a  mere  deputy,  sometimes  an  inde- 
pendent potentate.  If  it  is  expedient  for  the  Company  to 
show  some  legal  title  to  the  revenues  of  Bengal,  the  grant  20 
under  the  seal  of  the  Mogul  is  brought  forward  as  an 
instrument  of  the  highest  authority.  When  the  Mogul 
asks  for  the  rents  which  were  reserved  to  him  by  that  very 
grant,  he  is  told  that  he  is  a  mere  pageant,  that  the  English 
power  rests  on  a  very  different  foundation  from  a  charter 
given  by  him,  that  he  is  welcome  to  play  at  royalty  as 
long  as  he  likes,  but  that  he  must  expect  no  tribute  from 
the  real  masters  of  India. 

It  is  true  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  others,  as  well  as  of 
Hastings,  to  practise  this  legerdemain  ;  but  in  the  contro-  30 
versies  of  governments,  sophistry  is  of  little  use  unless  it       ^ \ 
be  backed  by  power.     There  is  a  principle  which  Hastings 
was  fond  of  asserting  in  the  strongest  terms,  and  on  which  ,    *j<r 
he  acted  with  undeviating  steadiness.    It  is  a  principle  which, 
we    must    own,   though    it    may    be    grossly  abused,   can 
hardly  be  disputed  in  the  present  state  of  public  law.     It 


70  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

is  this,  that  where  an  ambiguous  question  arises  between 
two  governments,  there  is,  if  they  cannot  agree,  no  appeal 
except  to  force,  and  that  the  opinion  of  the  stronger  must 
prevail.  Almost  every  question  was  ambiguous  in  India. 
The  English  government  was  the  strongest  in  India.  The 
consequences  are  obvious.  The  English  government  might 
do  exactly  what  it  chose. 

The  English  government  now  chose  to  wring  money  out 
of  Cheyte  Sing.     It  had  formerly  been  convenient  to  treat 

10  him  as  a  sovereign  prince  ;  it  was  now  convenient  to  treat 
him  as  a  subject.  Dexterity  inferior  to  that  of  Hastings 
could  easily  find,  in  the  general  chaos  of  laws  and  customs, 
arguments  for  either  course.  Hastings  wanted  a  great 
supply.  It  was  known  that  Cheyte  Sing  had  a  large 
revenue,  and  it  was  suspected  that  he  had  accumulated 
a  treasure.  Nor  was  he  a  favourite  at  Calcutta.  He  had, 
when  the  Governor-General  was  in  great  difficulties,  courted 
the  favour  of  Francis  and  Clavering.  Hastings  who,  less 
we  believe  from  evil  passions  than  from  policy,  seldom  left 

20  an  injury  unpunished,  was  not  sorry  that  the  fate  of  Cheyte 
Sing  should  teach  neighbouring  princes  the  same  lesson 
which  the  fate  of  Nuncomar  had  already  impressed  on  the 
inhabitants  of  Bengal. 

In  1778,  on  the  first  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  France, 
Cheyte  Sing  was  called  upon  to  pay,  in  addition  to  his  fixed 
tribute,  an  extraordinary  contribution  of  fifty  thousand 
pounds.  In  1779,  an  equal  sum  was  exacted.  In  1780, 
the  demand  was  renewed.  Cheyte  Sing,  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  some  indulgence,  secretly  offered  the  Governor- 

30  General  a  bribe  of  twenty  thousand  pounds.  Hastings 
took  the  money,  and  his  enemies  have  maintained  that  he 
took  it  intending  to  keep  it.  He  certainly  concealed  the 
transaction,  for  a  time,  both  from  the  Council  in  Bengal  and 
from  the  Directors  at  home  ;  nor  did  he  ever  give  any 
satisfactory  reason  for  the  concealment.  Public  spirit,  or 
the  fear  of  detection,  however,  determined  him  to  withstand 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  71 

the  temptation.  He  paid  over  the  bribe  to  the  Company's 
treasury,  and  insisted  that  the  Eajah  should  instantly  com- 
ply with  the  demands  of  the  English  government.  The 
Rajah,  after  the  fashion  of  his  countrymen,  shuffled,  soli- 
cited, and  pleaded  poverty.  The  grasp  of  Hastings  was 
not  to  be  so  eluded.  He  added  to  the  requisition  another 
ten  thousand  pounds  as  a  fine  for  delay,  and  sent  troops 
to  exact  the  money. 

The  money  was  paid.  But  this  was  not  enough.  The 
late  events  in  the  south  of  India  had  increased  the  financial  10 
embarrassments  of  the  Company.  Hastings  was  deter- 
mined to  plunder  Cheyte  Sing,  and,  for  that  end,  to  fasten 
a  quarrel  on  him.  Accordingly,  the  Rajah  was  now  re- 
quired to  keep  a  body  of  cavalry  for  the  service  of  the 
British  government.  He  objected  and  evaded.  This  was 
exactly  what  the  Governor-General  wanted.  He  had  now 
a  pretext  for  treating  the  wealthiest  of  his  vassals  as  a 
criminal.  "I  resolved" — these  are  the  words  of  Hastings 
himself — "to  draw  from  his  guilt  the  means  of  relief  to 
the  Company's  distresses,  to  make  him  pay  largely  for  20 
his  pardon,  or  to  exact  a  severe  vengeance  for  past  delin- 
quency." The  plan  was  simply  this,  to  demand  larger  and 
larger  contributions  till  the  Rajah  should  be  driven  to 
remonstrate,  then  to  call  his  remonstrance  a  crime,  and 
to  punish  him  by  confiscating  all  his  possessions. 

Cheyte  Sing  was  in  the  greatest  dismay.  He  offered  two 
hundred  thousand  pounds  to  propitiate  the  British  govern- 
ment. But  Hastings  replied  that  nothing  less  than  half  a 
million  would  be  accepted.  Nay,  he  began  to  think  of 
selling  Benares  to  Oude,  as  he  had  formerly  sold  Allahabad  30 
and  Rohilcund.  The  matter  was  one  which  could  not  be 
well  managed  at  a  distance  ;  and  Hastings  resolved  to  visit 
Benares. 

Cheyte  Sing  received  his  liege  lord  with  every  mark  of 
reverence,  came  near  sixty  miles,  with  his  guards,  to  meet 
and  escort  the  illustrious  visitor,  and  expressed  his  deep 


72  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

concern  at  the  displeasure  of  the  English.  He  even  took 
off  his  turban,  and  laid  it  in  the  lap  of  Hastings,  a  gesture 
which  in  India  marks  the  most  profound  submission  and 
devotion.  Hastings  behaved  with  cold  and  repulsive  seve- 
rity. Having  arrived  at  Benares,  he  sent  to  the  Rajah  a 
paper  containing  the  demands  of  the  government  of  Bengal. 
The  Rajah,  in  reply,  attempted  to  clear  himself  from  the 
accusations  brought  against  him.  Hastings,  who  wanted 
money  and  not  excuses,  was  not  to  be  put  off  by  the  ordi- 

10  nary  artifices  of  Eastern  negotiation.  He  instantly  ordered 
the  Rajah  to  be  arrested  and  placed  under  the  custody  of 
two  companies  of  sepoys. 

In  taking  these  strong  measures,  Hastings  scarcely  showed 
his  usual  judgment.  It  is  probable  that,  having  had  little 
opportunity  of  personally  observing  any  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  India,  except  the  Bengalees,  he  was  not  fully  aware 
of  the  difference  between  their  character  and  that  of  the 
tribes  which  inhabit  the  upper  provinces.  He  was  now 
in  a  land  far  more  favourable  to  the  vigour  of  the  human 

20  frame  than  the  Delta  of  the  Ganges ;  in  a  land  fruitful  of 
soldiers,  who  have  been  found  worthy  to  follow  English 
battalions  to  the  charge  and  into  the  breach.  The  Rajah  > 
was  popular  among  his  subjects.  His  administration  had 
been  mild ;  and  the  prosperity  of  the  district  which  he 
governed  presented  a  striking  contrast  to  the  depressed 
state  of  Bahar  under  our  rule,  and  a  still  more  striking 
contrast  to  the  misery  of  the  provinces  which  were  cursed 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  Nabob  Vizier.  The  national  and 
religious  prejudices  with  which  the  English  were  regarded 

30  throughout  India  were  peculiarly  intense  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  Brahminical  superstition.  It  can  therefore  scarcely 
be  doubted  that  the  Governor-General,  before  he  outraged 
the  dignity  of  Cheyte  Sing  by  an  arrest,  ought  to  have 
assembled  a  force  capable  of  bearing  down  all  opposition. 
This  had  not  been  done.  The  handful  of  sepoys  who 
attended  Hastings  would  probably  have  been  sufficient  to 


WARREN  HASTINGS.   ,\^ 
-3^ 


overawe  Moorshedabad,  or  the  Blaek  Town  of  Calcutta. 
But  they  were  unequal  to  a  conflict  with  the  hardy  rabble 
of  Benares.  The  streets  surrounding  the  palace  were  filled 
by  an  immense  multitude,  of  whom  a  large  proportion, 
as  is  usual  in  Upper  India,  wore  arms.  The  tumult  became 
a  fight,  and  the  fight  a  massacre.  The  English  officers 
defended  themselves  with  desperate  courage  against  over- 
whelming numbers,  and  fell,  as  became  them,  sword  in 
hand.  The  sepoys  were  butchered.  The  gates  were  forced. 
The  captive  prince,  neglected  by  his  jailers  during  the  10 
confusion,  discovered  an  outlet  which  opened  on  the  preci- 
pitous bank  of  the  Ganges,  let  himself  down  to  the  water 
by  a  string  made  of  the  turbans  of  his  attendants,  found  a 
boat,  and  escaped  to  the  opposite  shore. 

If  Hastings  had,  by  indiscreet  violence,  brought  himself 
into  a  difficult  and  perilous  situation,  it  is  only  just  to 
acknowledge  that  he  extricated  himself  with  even  more  than 
his  usual  ability  and  presence  of  mind.  He  had  only  fifty 
men  with  him.  The  building  in  which  he  had  taken  up  his 
residence  was  on  every  side  blockaded  by  the  insurgents.  20 
But  his  fortitude  remained  unshaken.  The  Rajah  from  the 
other  side  of  the  river  sent  apologies  and  liberal  offers. 
They  were  not  even  answered.  Some  subtle  and  enterpris- 
ing men  were  found  who  undertook  to  pass  through  the 
throng  of  enemies,  and  to  convey  the  intelligence  of  the 
late  events  to  the  English  cantonments.  It  is  the  fashion  of 
the  natives  of  India  to  wear  Targe  earrings  of  gold.  When 
they  travel,  the  rings  are  laid  aside,  lest  the  precious  metal^. 
should  tempt  some  gang  of  robbers,  and,  in  place  of  the  ring, 
a  quill  or  a  roll  of  paper  is  inserted  in  the  orifice  to  prevent  30 
it  from  closing.  Hastings  placed  in  the  ears  of  his  messengers 
letters  rolled  up  in  the  smallest  compass.  Some  of  these  r 
letters  were  addressed  to  the  commanders  of  the  English 
troops.  One  was  written  to  assure  his  wife  of  his  safety. 
One  was  to  the  envoy  whom  he  had  sent  to  negotiate  with 
the  Mahrattas.    Instructions  for  the  negotiation  were  needed; 


74  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

and  the  Governor-General  framed  them  in  that  situation  of 
extreme  danger,  with  as  much  composure  as  if  he  had  been 
writing  in  his  palace  at  Calcutta. 

Things,  however,  were  not  yet  at  the  worst.  An  English 
officer  of  more  spirit  than  judgment,  eager  to  distinguish 
himself,  made  a  premature  attack  on  the  insurgents  beyond 
the  river.  His  troops  were  entangled  in  narrow  streets,  and 
assailed  by  a  furious  population.  He  fell,  with  many  of  his 
men  ;  and  the  survivors  were  forced  to  retire. 

10  This  event  produced  the  effect  which  has  never  failed  to 
follow  every  check,  however  slight,  sustained  in  India  by  the 
English  arms.  For  hundreds  of  miles  round,  the  whole 
country  was  in  commotion.  The  entire  population  of  the 
district  of  Benares  took  arms.  The  fields  were  abandoned 
by  the  husbandmen,  who  thronged  to  defend  their  prince. 
The  infection  spread  to  Oude.  The  oppressed  people  of  that 
province  rose  up  against  the  Nabob  Yizier,  refused  to  pay 
their  imposts,  and  put  the  revenue  officers  to  flight.  Even 
Bahar  was  ripe  for  revolt.     The  hopes  of  Cheyte  Sing  began 

20  to  rise.  Instead  of  imploring  mercy  in  the  humble  style  of 
a  vassal,  he  began  to  talk  the  language  of  a  conqueror,  and 
threatened,  it  was  said,  to  sweep  the  white  usurpers  out  of 
the  land.  But  the  English  troops  were  now  assembling  fast. 
The  officers,  and  even  the  private  men,  regarded  the 
Governor-General  with  enthusiastic  attachment,  and  flew  to 
his  aid  with  an  alacrity  which,  as  he  boasted,  had  never  been 
shown  on  any  other  occasion.  Major  Popham,  a  brave  and 
skilful  soldier,  who  had  highly  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Mahratta  war,  and  in  whom  the  Governor-General  reposed 

30  the  greatest  confidence,  took  the  command.  The  tumultuary 
army  of  the  Rajah  was  put  to  rout.  His  fastnesses  were 
stormed.  In  a  few  hours,  above  thirty  thousand  men  left 
his  standard,  and  returned  to  their  ordinary  avocations. 
The  unhappy  prince  fled  from  his  country  for  ever.  His 
fair  domain  was  added  to  the  British  dominions.  One  of 
his  relations   indeed  was  appointed  rajah ;   but  the  Rajah 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  75 

of  Benares  was  henceforth  to  be,  like  the  Nabob  of  Bengal, 
a  mere  pensioner. 

By  this  revolution,  an  addition  of  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds  a  year  was  made  to  the  revenues  of  the  Company. 
But  the  immediate  relief  was  not  as  great  as  had  been 
expected.  The  treasure  laid  up  by  Cheyte  Sing  had  been 
popularly  estimated  at  a  million  sterling.  It  turned  out 
to  be  about  a  fourth  part  of  that  sum  ;  and,  such  as  it 
was,  it  was  seized  by  the  army,  and  divided  as  prize- 
money.  10 

Disappointed  in  his  expectations  from  Benares,  Hastings 
was  more  violent  than  he  would  otherwise  have  been,  in 
his  dealings  with  Oude.  Sujah  Dowlah  had  long  been 
dead.  His  son  and  successor,  Asaph-ul-Dowlah,  was  one 
of  the  weakest  and  most  vicious  even  of  Eastern  princes. 
His  life  was  divided  between  torpid  repose  and  the  most 
odious  forms  of  sensuality,  In  his  court  there  was  bound- 
less waste,  throughout  his  dominions  wretchedness  and 
disorder.  He  had  been,  under  the  skilful  management  of 
the  English  government,  gradually  sinking  from  the  rank  20 
of  an  independent  prince  to  that  of  a  vassal  of  the  Com- 
pany. It  was  only  by  the  help  of  a  British  brigade  that  he 
could  be  secure  from  the  aggressions  of  neighbours  who 
despised  his  weakness,  and  from  the  vengeance  of  subjects 
who  detested  his  tyranny.  A  brigade  was  furnished  ;  and 
he  engaged  to  defray  the  charge  of  paying  and  maintain- 
ing it.  From  that  time  his  independence  was  at  an  end. 
Hastings  was  not  a  man  to  lose  the  advantage  which  he 
had  thus  gained.  The  Nabob  soon  began  to  complain  of 
the  burden  which  he  had  undertaken  to  bear.  His  revenues,  30 
he  said,  were  falling  off ;  his  servants  were  unpaid ;  he 
could  no  longer  support  the  expense  of  the  arrangement 
which  he  had  sanctioned.  Hastings  would  not  listen  to 
these  representations.  The  Vizier,  he  said,  had  invited  the 
Government  of  Bengal  to  send  him  troops,  and  had  pro- 
mised to  pay  for  them.     The  troops  had  been  sent.     How 


76  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

long  the  troops  were  to  remain  in  Oude  was  a  matter  not 
settled  by  the  treaty.  It  remained,  therefore,  to  be 
settled  between  the  contracting  parties.  But  the  contract- 
ing parties  differed.  Who  then  must  decide  ?  The  stronger. 
Hastings  also  argued  that,  if  the  English  force  was 
withdrawn,  Oude  would  certainly  become  a  prey  to  anarchy, 
and  would  probably  be  overrun  by  a  Mahratta  army. 
That  the  finances  of  Oude  were  embarrassed  he  admitted. 
But  he  contended,  not  without  reason,  that  the  embarrass- 

10  ment  was  to  be  attributed  to  the  incapacity  and  vices  of 
Asaph-ul-Dowlah  himself,  and  that,  if  less  were  spent  on 
the  troops,  the   only  effect  would  be  that  more  would  be^ 
squandered  on  worthless  favourites.  ^ 

Hastings  had  intended,  after  settling  the  affairs  of 
Benares,  to  visit  Lucknow,  and  there  to  confer  with 
Asaph-ul-Dowlah.  But  the  obsequious  courtesy  of  the 
Nabob  Vizier  prevented  this  visit.  With  a  small  train  he 
hastened  to  meet  the  Governor-General.  An  interview 
took  place  in  the  fortress  which,  from  the  crest  of  the  pre- 

20  cipitous  rock  of  Chunar,  looks  down  on  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges. 

At  first  sight  it  might  appear  impossible  that  the  ne- 
gotiation should  come  to  an  amicable  close.  Hastings 
wanted  an  extraordinary  supply  of  money.  Asaph-ul- 
Dowlah  wanted  to  obtain  a  remission  of  what  he  already 
owed.  Such  a  difference  seemed  to  admit  of  no  com- 
promise. There  was,  however,  one  course  satisfactory  to 
both  sides,  one  course  by  which  it  was  possible  to  relieve 
the  finances  both  of  Oude  and  of  Bengal ;  and  that  course 

30  was  adopted.  It  was  simply  this,  that  the  Governor- 
General  and  the  Nabob  Yizier  should  join  to  rob  a  third 
party  ;  and  the  third  party  whom  they  determined  to  rob 
was  the  parent  of  one  of  the  robbers. 

The  mother  of  the  late  Nabob,  and  his  wife,  who  was  the 
mother  of  the  present  Nabob,  were  known  as  the  Begums  or 
Princesses  of  Oude.    They  had  possessed  great  influence  over 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  77 

Sujah  Dowlah,  and  had,  at  his  death,  been  left  in  possession 
of  a  splendid  dotation.  The  domains  of  which  they  received 
the  rents  and  administered  the  government  were  of  wide 
extent.  The  treasure  hoarded  by  the  late  Nabob,  a  treasure 
which  was  popularly  estimated  at  near  three  millions  sterling, 
was  in  their  hands.  They  continued  to  occupy  his  favourite 
palace  at  Fyzabad,  the  Beautiful  Dwelling  ;  while  Asaph-ul- 
Dowlah  held  his  court  in  the  stately  Lucknow,  which  he 
had  built  for  himself  on  the  shores  of  the  Goomti,  and  had 
adorned  with  noble  mosques  and  colleges.  10 

Asaph-ul-Dowlah  had  already  extorted  considerable  sums 
from  his  mother.  She  had  at  length  appealed  to  the  English ; 
and  the  English  had  interfered.  A  solemn  compact  had  been 
made,  by  which  she  consented  to  give  her  son  some  pecuniary 
assistance,  and  he  in  his  turn  promised  never  to  commit  any 
further  invasion  of  her  rights.  This  compact  was  formally 
guaranteed  by  the  government  of  Bengal.  But  times  had 
changed  ;  money  was  wanted  ;  and  the  power  which  had 
given  the  guarantee  was  not  ashamed  to  instigate  the  spoiler 
to  excesses  such  that  even  he  shrank  from  them.  20 

^pD  was  necessary  to  find  some  pretext  for  a  confiscation 
inconsistent,  not  merely  with  plighted  faith,  not  merely  with 
the  ordinary  rules  of  humanity  and  justice,  but  also  with 
that  great  law  of  filial  piety  which,  even  in  the  wildest  tribes 
of  savages,  even  in  those  more  degraded  communities  which 
wither  under  the  influence  of  a  corrupt  half -civilization,  re- 
tains a  certain  authority  over  the  human  mind.  A  pretext 
was  the  last  thing  that  Hastings  was  likely  to  want.  The 
insurrection  at  Benares  had  produced  disturbances  in  Oude. 
These  disturbances  it  was  convenient  to  impute  to  the  Prin-  30 
cesses.  Evidence  for  the  imputation  there  was  scarcely  any ; 
unless  reports  wandering  from  one  mouth  to  another,  and 
gaining  something  by  every  transmission,  may  be  called 
evidence.  The  accused  were  furnished  with  no  charge  ;  they 
were  permitted  to  make  no  defence ;  for  the  Governor-General 
wisely  considered  that,  if  he  tried  them,  he  might  not  be  able 


e 


r 


78  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

to  find  a  ground  for  plundering  them.  It  was  agreed  between 
him  and  the  Nabob  Yizier  that  the  noble  ladies  should,  by  a 
sweeping  measure  of  confiscation,  be  stripped  of  their  domains 
and  treasures  for  the  benefit  of  the  Company,  and  that  the 
sums  thus  obtained  should  be  accepted  by  the  government  of 
Bengal  in  satisfaction  of  its  claims  on  the  government  of 
Oude. 

While  Asaph -ul-Dowlah  was  at  Chunar,  he  was  completely 
subjugated  by  the  clear  and  commanding  intellect  of  the 

10  English  statesman.  But  when  they  had  separated,  the  Yizier 
began  to  reflect  with  uneasiness  on  the  engagement  into 
which  he  had  entered.  His  mother  and  grandmother  pro- 
tested and  implored.  His  heart,  deeply  corrupted  by  absolute 
power  and  licentious  pleasures,  yet  not  naturally  unfeeling, 
failed  him  in  this  crisis.  Even  the  English  resident  at 
Lucknow,  though  hitherto  devoted  to  Hastings,  shrank  from 
extreme  measures.  But  the  Governor-General  was  inex- 
orable. He  wrote  to  the  resident  in  terms  of  the  greatest 
severity,  and  declared  that,  if  the  spoliation  which  had  been 

20  agreed  upon  were  not  instantly  carried  into  effect,  he  would 
himself  go  to  Lucknow,  and  do  that  from  which  feebler 
minds  recoil  with  dismay.  The  resident,  thus  menaced, 
waited  on  his  Highness,  and  insisted  that  the  treaty  of 
Chunar  should  be  carried  into  full  and  immediate  effect. 
Asaph-ul-Dowlah  yielded,  making  at  the  same  time  a  solemn 
protestation  that  he  yielded  to  compulsion.  The  lands  were 
resumed ;  but  the  treasure  was  not  so  easily  obtained.  It 
was  necessary  to  use  violence.  A  body  of  the  Company's 
troops   marched  to   Fyzabad,  and  forced  the  gates  of  the 

30  palace.  The  Princesses  were  confined  to  their  own  apart- 
ments. But  still  they  refused  to  submit.  Some  more  strin- 
gent mode  of  coercion  was  to  be  found.  A  mode  was  found 
of  which,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  we  cannot  speak  with- 
out shame  and  sorrow. 

There  were  at  Fyzabab  two  ancient  men,  belonging  to  that 
unhappy  class  which  a  practice,  of  immemorial  antiquity  in 


WARREN  HASTINGS. 


m 


the  East,  has  excluded  from  the  pleasures  of  love  and  from 
the  hope  of  posterity.  It  has  always  been  held  in  Asiatic 
courts  that  beings  thus  estranged  from  sympathy  with  their 
kind  are  those  whom  princes  may  most  safely  trust.  Sujah 
Dowlah  had  been  of  this  opinion.  He  had  given  his  entire 
confidence  to  the  two  eunuchs  ;  and  after  his  death  they 
remained  at  the  head  of  the  household  of  his  widow. 

These  two  men  were,  by  the  orders  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, seized,  imprisoned,  ironed,  starved  almost  to  death,  in 
order  to  extort  money  from  the  Princesses.  After  they  had  10 
been  two  months  in  confinement,  their  health  gave  way. 
They  implored  permission  to  take  a  little  exercise  in  the 
garden  of  their  prison.  The  officer  who  was  in  charge  of 
them  stated  that,  if  they  were  allowed  this  indulgence,  there 
was  not  the  smallest  chance  of  their  escaping,  and  that  their 
irons  really  added  nothing  to  the  security  of  the  custody  in 
which  they  were  kept.  He  did  not  understand  the  plan  of 
his  superiors.  Their  object  in  these  inflictions  was  not/ 
security  but  torture  ;  and  all  mitigation  was  refused.  Yet 
this  was  not  the  worst.  It  was  resolved  by  an  English  20 
government  that  these  two  infirm  old  men  should  be  de- 
livered to  the  tormentors.  For  that  purpose  they  were  re- 
moved to  Lucknow.  What  horrors  their  dungeon  there 
witnessed  can  only  be  guessed.  But  there  remains  on  the 
records  of  Parliament,  this  letter,  written  by  a  British  resi- 
dent to  a  British  soldier. 

"Sir,   the   Nabob   having   determined  to  inflict  corporal 
punishment  upon  the  prisoners  under  your  guard,  this  is  to 
desire  that  his  officers,  when  they  shall  come,  may  have  free  * 
access  to  the  prisoners,  and  be  permitted  to  do  with  them  as  30 
they  shall  see  proper." 

While  these  barbarities  were  perpetrated  at  Lucknow,- 
the  Princesses  were  still  under  duresse  at  Fyzabad.  Food 
was  allowed  to  enter  their  apartments  only  in  such  scanty 
quantities  that  their  female  attendants  were  in  danger  of 
perishing  with   hunger.     Month  after  month  this  cruelty 


80  WARREN  HASTINGS 

continued,  till  at  length,  after  twelve  hundred  thousand 
pounds  had  been  wrung  out  of  the  Princesses,  Hastings 
began  to  think  that  he  had  really  got  to  the  bottom  of  their 
revenue,  and  that  no  rigour  could  extort  more.  Then  at 
length  the  wretched  men  who  were  detained  at  Lucknow 
regained  their  liberty.  When  their  irons  were  knocked  off, 
and  the  doors  of  their  prison  opened,  their  quivering  lips,  the 
tears  which  ran  down  their  cheeks,  and  the  thanksgivings 
which  they  poured  forth  to  the  common  Father  of  Mussul- 

10  mans  and  Christians,  melted  even  the  stout  hearts  of  the 
English  warriors  who  stood  by. 

There  is  a  man  to  whom  the  conduct  of  Hastings,  through 
the  whole  of  these  proceedings,  appears  not  only  excusable 
but  laudable.  There  is  a  man  who  tells  us  that  he  "must 
really  be  pardoned  if  he  ventures  to  characterize  as  some- 
thing preeminently  ridiculous  and  wicked,  the  sensibility 
which  would  balance  against  the  preservation  of  British 
India  a  little  personal  suffering,  which  was  applied  only  so 
long  as  the  sufferers  refused  to  deliver  up  a  portion  of  that 

20  wealth,  the  whole  of  which  their  own  and  their  mistresses' 
treason  had  forfeited."  We  cannot,  we  must  own,  envy  the 
reverend  biographer,  either  his  singular  notion  of  what  con- 
stitutes preeminent  wickedness,  or  his  equally  singular  per- 
ception of  the  preeminently  ridiculous,  lis  this  the  generosity 
of  an  English  soldier?  "Is  this  the  charity  of  a  Christian 
priest  ?  Could  neither  of  Mr.  Gleig's  professions  teach  him 
the  first  rudiments  of  morality?  *;Or  is  morality  a  thing 
which  may  be  well  enough  in  sermons,  but  which  has  nothing 
to  do  with  biography  ? 

30  But  we  must  not  forget  to  do  justice  to  Sir  Elijah  Impey's 
conduct  on  this  occasion.  It  was  not  indeed  easy  for  him 
to  intrude  himself  into  a  business  so  entirely  alien  from  all 
his  official  duties.  But  there  was  something  inexpressibly 
alluring,  we  must  suppose,  in  the  peculiar  rankness  of  the 
infamy  which  was  then  to  be  got  at  Lucknow.  He  hurried 
thither  as  fast  as  relays  of  palanquin-bearers  could  carry 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  81 

him.  A  crowd  of  people  came  before  him  with  affidavits 
against  the  Begums,  ready  drawn  in  their  hands.  Those 
affidavits  he  did  not  read.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  he  could 
not  read  ;  for  they  were  in  the  dialects  of  Northern  India, 
and  no  interpreter  was  employed.*  He  administered  the 
oath  to  the  deponents,  with  all  possible  expedition,  and 
asked  not  a  single  question,  not  even  whether  they  had 
perused  the  statements  to  which  they  swore.  This  work 
performed,  he  got  again  into  his  palanquin,  and  posted  back 
to  Calcutta,  to  be  in  time  for  the  opening  of  term.  The  10 
cause  was  one  which,  by  his  own  confession,  lay  altogether 
out  of  his  jurisdiction.  Under  the  charter  of  justice,  he  had 
no  more  right  to  inquire  into  crimes  committed  by  natives  in 
Oude  than  the  Lord  President  of  the  Court  of  Session  of 
Scotland  to  hold  an  assize  at  Exeter.  He  had  no  right  to 
try  the  Begums,  nor  did  he  pretend  to  try  them.  ~  With 
what  object,  then,  did  he  undertake  so  long  a  journey? 
Evidently  in  order  that  he  might  give,  in  an  irregular 
manner,  that  sanction  which  in  a  regular  manner  he  could 
not  give,  to  the  crimes  of  those  who  had  recently  hired  him  ;  20 
and  in  order  that  a  confused  mass  of  testimony  which  he  did 
not  sift,  which  he  did  not  even  read,  might  acquire  an 
authority  not  properly  belonging  to  it,  from  the  signature  of 
the  highest  judicial  functionary  in  India. 

The  time  was  approaching,  however,  when  he  was  to  be 
stripped  of  that  robe  which  has  never,  since  the  Revolution, 

*  This  passage  has  been  slightly  altered.  As  it  originally  stood, 
Sir  Elijah  Impey  was  described  as  ignorant  of  all  the  native  languages 
in  which  the  depositions  were  drawn.  A  writer  who  apparently  has 
had  access  to  some  private  source  of  information  has  contradicted 
this  statement,  and  has  asserted  that  Sir  Elijah  knew  Persian  and 
Bengalee.  Some  of  the  depositions  were  certainly  in  Persian.  Those 
therefore  Sir  Elijah  might  have  read  if  he  had  chosen  to  do  so.  But 
others  were  in  the  vernacular  dialects  of  Upper  India,  with  which  it  is 
not  alleged  that  he  had  any  acquaintance.  Why  the  Bengalee  is 
mentioned  it  is  not  easy  to  guess.  Bengalee  at  Lucknow  would  have 
been  as  useless  as  Portuguese  in  Switzerland. 


82  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

been  disgraced  so  foully  as  by  him.  The  state  of  India  had 
for  some  time  occupied  much  of  the  attention  of  the  British 
Parliament.  Towards  the  close  of  the  American  war,  two 
committees  of  the  Commons  sat  on  Eastern  affairs.  In  one 
Edmund  Burke  took  the  lead.  The  other  was  under  the 
presidency  of  the  able  and  versatile  Henry  Dundas,  then 
Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland.  Great  as  are  the  changes 
which,  during  the  last  sixty  years,  have  taken  place  in  our 
Asiatic  dominions,  the  reports  which  those  committees  laid 

10  on  the  table  of  the  House  will  still  be  found  most  interest- 
^J^>   ^  ing  and  instructive. 

There  was  as  yet  no  connection  between  the  Company  and 
either  of  the  great  parties  in  the  state.  The  ministers  had 
no  motive  to  defend  Indian  abuses.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
for  their  interest  to  show,  if  possible,  that  the  government 
and  patronage  of  our  Oriental  empire  might,  with  advan- 
tage, be  transferred  to  themselves.  The  votes  therefore, 
which,  in  consequence  of  the  reports  made  by  the  two 
committees,  were   passed  by   the   Commons,  breathed   the 

20  spirit  of  stern  and  indignant  justice.  The  severest  epithets 
were  applied  to  several  of  the  measures  of  Hastings,  espe- 
cially to  the  Rohilla  war ;  and  it  was  resolved,  on  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Dundas,  that  the  Company  ought  to  recall 
a  Governor-General  who  had  brought  such  calamities  on  the 
Indian  people,  and  such  dishonour  on  the  British  name.  An 
act  was  parsed  for  limiting  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  bargain  which  Hastings  had  made  with  the 
Chief  Justice  was  condemned  in  the  strongest  terms  ;  and  an 
address  was  presented  to  the  King,  praying  that  Impey  might 

30  be  ordered  home  to  answer  for  his  misdeeds. 

Impey  was  recalled  by  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State. 
But  the  proprietors  of  India  Stock  resolutely  refused  to  dis- 
miss Hastings  from  their  service,  and  passed  a  resolution 
affirming,  what  was  undeniably  true,  that  they  were  in- 
trusted by  law  with  the  right  of  naming  and  removing  their 
Governor-General,  and  that  they  were  not  bound  to  obey  the 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  83 

directions  of  a  single  branch  of  the  legislature  with  respect 
to  such  nomination  or  removal. 

Thus  supported  by  his  employers,  Hastings  remained  at 
the  head  of  the  government  of  Bengal  till  the  spring  of 
1785.  His  administration,  so  eventful  and  stormy,  closed  in 
almost  perfect  quiet.  In  the  Council  there  was  no  regular 
opposition  to  his  measures.  Peace  was  restored  to  India. 
The  Mahratta  war  had  ceased.  Hyder  was  no  more.  A 
treaty  had  been  concluded  with  his  son,  Tippoo  ;  and  the 
Carnatic  had  been  evacuated  by  the  armies  of  Mysore.  10 
Since  the  termination  of  the  American  war,  England  had  no 
European  enemy  or  rival  in  the  Eastern  seas.  *** 

On  a  general  review  of  the  long  administration  of 
Hastings,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that,  against  the  great 
crimes  by  which  it  is  blemished,  we  have  to  set  off  great 
public  services.  England  had  passed  through  a  perilous 
crisis.  She  still,  indeed,  maintained  her  place  in  the  fore- 
most rank  of  European  powers  ;  and  the  manner  in  which 
she  had  defended  herself  against  fearful  odds  had  inspired 
surrounding  nations  with  a  high  opinion  both  of  her  spirit  20 
and  of  her  strength.  Nevertheless,  in  every  part  of  the 
world,  except  one,  she  had  been  a  loser.  Not  only  had  she 
been  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  thirteen 
colonies  peopled  by  her  children,  and  to  conciliate  the  Irish 
by  giving  up  the  right  of  legislating  for  tliem  ;  but,  in  the 
Mediterranean,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  on  the  continent  of  America,  she  had  been  compelled 
to  cede  the  fruits  (jf  her  victories  in  former  wars.  Spain  j 
regained  Minorca  and  Florida  ;  France  regained  Senegal, 
Goree,  and  several  West  Indian  Islands.  The  only  quarter  30 
of  the  world  in  which  Britain  had  lost  nothing  was  the 
quarter  in  which  her  interests  had  been  committed  to  the 
care  of  Hastings.  In  spite  of  the  utmost  exertions  both  of 
European  and  Asiatic  enemies,  the  power  of  our  country  in 
the  East  had  been  greatly  augmented.  Benares  was  sub- 
jected ;  the  Nabob  Yizier  reduced  to  vassalage.     That  our 


84  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

influence  had  been  thus  extended,  nay,  that  Fort  William 
and  Fort  St.  George  had  not  been  occupied  by  hostile  armies, 
was  owing,  if  we  may  trust  the  general  voice  of  the  English 
in  India,  to  the  skill  and  resolution  of  Hastings. 

His  internal  administration,  with  all  its  blemishes,  gives 
him  a  title  to  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  in  our  history.  He  dissolved  the  double  government. 
He  transferred  the  direction  of  affairs  to  English  hands. 
Out  of  a  frightf ul  jinarchy,  he  educed  at  least  a  rude  and 

10  imperfect  order.  The  whole  organization  by  which  justice 
was  dispensed,  revenue  collected,  peace  maintained  through- 
out a  territory  not  inferior  in  population  to  the  dominions  of 
Louis  the  Sixteenth  or  of  the  Emperor  Joseph,  was  formed 
and  superintended  by  him.  He  boasted  that  every  public 
office,  without  exception,  which  existed  when  he  left  Bengal, 
was  his  creation.  It  is  quite  true  that  this  system,  after  all 
the  improvements  suggested  by  the  experience  of  sixty 
years,  still  needs  improvement,  and  that  it  was  at  first  far 
more  defective  than  it  now  is.     But  whoever  seriously  con- 

20  siders  what  it  is  to  construct  from  the  beginning  the  whole 
of  a  machine  so  vast  and  complex  as  a  government  will  allow 
that  what  Hastings  effected  deserves  high  admiration.  To 
compare  the  most  celebrated  European  ministers  to  him 
seems  to  us  as  unjust  as  it  would  be  to  compare  the  best 
baker  in  London  with  Robinson  Crusoe,  who,  before  he 
could  bake  a  single  loaf,  had  to  make  his  plough  and  his 
harrow,  his  fences  and  his  scarecrows,  his  sickle  and  his  flail, 
his  mill  and  his  oven. 

The  just  fame  of  Hastings  rises  still  higher,   when  we 

30  reflect  that  he  was  not  bred  a  statesman  ;  that  he  was  sent 
from  school  to  a  cojintingihouse  ;  and  that  he  was  employed 
during  the  prime  of  his  manhood  as  a  commercial  agent,  far 
from  all  intellectual  society.  f^^j^^ 

Nor  must  we  forget  that  all,  or  almost  all,'5to  whom,  when 
placed  at  the  head  of  affairs,  he  could  apply  for  assistance, 
were  persons  who  owed  as  little  as  himself,  or  less  than  him- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  85 

self,  to  education.  A  minister  in  Europe  finds  himself,  on 
the  first  day  on  which  he  commences  his  functions,  sur- 
rounded by  experienced  public  servants,  the  depositaries  of 
official  traditions.  Hastings  had  no  such  help.  His  own 
reflection,  his  own  energy,  were  to  supply  the  place  of  all 
Downing  Street  and  Somerset  House.  Having  had  no 
facilities  for  learning,  he  was  forced  to  teach.  He  had 
first  to  form  himself,  and  then  to  form  his  instruments ; 
and  this  not  in  a  single  department,  but  in  all  the  depart-  , 
ments  of  the  administration.  1© 

It  must  be  added  that,  while  engaged  in  this  most  arduous 
task,  he  was  constantly  trammelled  by  orders  from  home, 
and  frequently  borne  down  by  a  majority  in  council.  The 
preservation  of  an  Empire  from  a  formidable  combination  of 
foreign  enemies,  the  construction  of  a  government  in  all  its 
parts,  were  accomplished  by  him,  while  every  ship  brought 
out  bales  of  censure  from  his  employers,  and  while  the 
records  of  every  consultation  were  filled  with  acrimonious 
minutes  by  his  colleagues.  We  believe  that  there  never 
was  a  public  man  whose  temper  was  so  severely  tried ;  not  20 
Marlborough,  when  thwarted  by  the  Dutch  Deputies ;  not 
Wellington,  when  he  had  to  deal  at  once  with  the  Portu- 
guese Regency,  the  Spanish  Juntas,  and  Mr.  Percival.  But 
the  temper  of  Hastings  was  equal  to  almost  any  trial.  It 
was  not  sweet ;  but  it  was  calm.  Quick  and  vigorous  as  his 
intellect  was,  the  patience  with  which  he  endured  the  most 
cruel  vexations,  till  a  remedy  could  be  found,  resembled  the 
patience  of  stupidity.  He  seems  to  have  been  capable  of 
resentment,  bitter  and  long-enduring  ;  yet  his  resentment 
so  seldom  hurried  him  into  any  blunder  that  it  may  be  30 
doubted  whether  what  appeared  to  be  revenge  was  any 
thing  but  policy.  / 

The  effect  of  this  singular  equanimity  was  that  he  always  \ 
had  the  full  command  of  all  the  resources  of  one  of  the  most    I 
fertile  minds  that  ever  existed.     Accordingly  no  complica-  / 
tion  of  perils  and  embarrassments  could  perplex  him.     For 

\ 


86  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

every  difficulty  he  had  a  contrivance  ready  ;  and,  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  the  justice  and  humanity  of  some  of  his 
contrivances,  it  is  certain  that  they  seldom  failed  to  serve 
the  purpose  for  which  they,  were  designed. 
^Together  with  this  extraordinary  talent  for  devising  ex- 
pedients, Hastings  possessed,  in  a  very  high  degree,  another 
talent  scarcely  less  necessary  to  a  man  in  his  situation  ;  we 
mean  the  talent  for  conducting  political  controversy.  It  is 
as  necessary  to  an  English  statesman  in  the  East  that  he 

10  should  be  able  to  write,  as  it  is  to  a  minister  in  this  country 
that  he  should  be  able  to  speak.  It  is  chiefly  by  the  oratory 
of  a  public  man  here  that  the  nation  judges  of  his  powers. 
It  is  from  the  letters  and  reports  of  a  public  man  in  India 
that  the  dispensers  of  patronage  form  their  estimate  of  him. 
In  each  case,  the  talent  which  receives  peculiar  encourage- 
ment is  developed,  perhaps  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
powers.  In  this  country,  we  sometimes  hear  men  speak 
above  their  abilities.  It  is  not  very  unusual  to  find  gentle- 
men in  the  Indian  service  who  write  above  their  abilities. 

20  The  English  politician  is  a  little  too  much  of  a  debater  ;  the 
Indian  politician  a  little  too  much  of  an  essayist.  /y 

JOf  the  numerous  servants  of  the  Company  who  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  as  framers  of  minutes  and  despatches,  j 
Hastings  stands  at  the  head.  He  was  indeed  the  person 
who  gave  to  the  official  writing  of  the  Indian  governments 
the  character  which  it  still  retains.  He  was  matched  against 
no  common  antagonist.  But  even  Francis  was  forced  to 
acknowledge,  with  sullen  and  resentful  candour,  that  there 
was  no  contending  against  the  pen  of  Hastings.     And,  in 

30  truth,  the  Governor-General's  power  of  making  out  a  case, 
of  perplexing  what  it  was  inconvenient  that  people  should 
understand,  and  of  setting  in  the  clearest  point  of  view 
whatever  would  bear  the  light,  was  incomparable.  His 
style  must  be  praised  with  some  reservation.  It  was  in 
general  forcible,  pure,  and  polished  ;  but  it  was  sometimes, 
though  not  often,  turgid,  and,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  even 


"7 

WARREN  HASTINGS.  87 

\&  bombastic.     Perhaps  the  fondness  of  Hastings  for  Persian 
literature  may  have  tended  to  corrupt  his  taste.  ^ 

And,  since  we  have  referred  to  his  literary  tastes,  it  would 
be  most  unjust  not  to  praise  the  judicious  encouragement 
which,  as  a  ruler,  he  gave  to  liberal  studies  and  curious 
researches.  His  patronage  was  extended,  with  prudent 
generosity,  to  voyages,  travels,  experiments,  publications. 
He  did  little,  it  is  true,  towards  introducing  into  India 
the  learning  of  the  West.  To  make  the  young  natives  of 
Bengal  familiar  with  Milton  and  Adam  Smith,  to  substitute  10 

V  the  geography,  astronomy,  aud  surgery  of  Europe  for  the  $A^ 
^dotages  of  the  Brahminical  superstition,  or  for  the  imperfect  .  l 
science  of  ancient  Greece  transfused  through  Arabian  exposi- 
tions, this  was  a  scheme  reserved  to  crown  the  beneficent 
administration  of  a  far  more  virtuous  ruler.  Still,  it  is 
impossible  to  refuse  high  commendation  to  a  man  who, 
taken  from  a  ledger  to  govern  an  empire,  overwhelmed  by 
public  business,  surrounded  by  people  as  busy  as  himself, 
and  separated  by  thousands  of  leagues  from  almost  all 
literary  society,  gave,  both  by  his  example  and  by  his  20 
munificence,  a  great  impulse  to  learning.  In  Persian  and 
Arabic  literature  he  was  deeply  skilled.  With  the  Sanscrit 
he  was  not  himself  acquainted  ;  but  those  who  first  brought 
that  language  to  the  knowledge  of  European  students  owed 
much  to  his  encouragement.  It  was  under  his  protection 
that  the  Asiatic  Society  commenced  its  honourable  career. 
That  distinguished  body  selected  him  to  be  its  first  presi- 
dent ;  but,  with  excellent  taste  and  feeling,  he  declined  the 
honour  in  favour  of  Sir  William  Jones.  But  the  chief  ad- 
vantage which  the  students  of  Oriental  letters  derived  from  30 
his  patronage  remains  to  be  mentioned.  The  Pundits  of 
Bengal  had  always  looked  with  great  jealousy  on  the 
attempts  of  foreigners  to  pry  into  those  mysteries  which 
were  locked  up  in  the  sacred  dialect.  Their  religion  had 
been  persecuted  by  the  Mahommedans.  What  they  knew 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Portuguese  government  might  warrant 


88  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

them  in  apprehending  persecution  from  Christians.     That 
apprehension,  the  wisdom  and  moderation  of  Hastings  re- 
moved.    He  was  the  first  foreign  ruler  who  succeeded  in 
gaining  the  confidence  of  the  hereditary  priests  of  India,       ^ 
and  who  induced  them  to  lay  open  to  English  scholars  the  ^^ 
secrets  of  the  old  Brahminical  theology  and  jurisprudence.  0> 
It  is  indeed  impossible  to  deny  that,  in  the  great  art  of 
inspiring  large  masses  of  human  beings  with  confidence  and 
attachment,  no  ruler  ever  surpassed  Hastings.     If  he  had 

10  made  himself  popular  with  the  English  by  giving  up  the 
Bengalese  to  extortion  and  oppression,  or  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  had  conciliated  the  Bengalese  and  alienated  the 
English,  there  would  have  been  no  cause  for  wonder.  What 
is  peculiar  to  him  is  that,  being  the  chief  of  a  small  band  of 
strangers  who  exercised  boundless  power  over  a  great  indi- 
genous population,  he  made  himself  beloved  both  by  the 
subject  many  and  by  the  dominant  few.  The  affection  felt 
for  him  by  the  civil  service  was  singularly  ardent  and  con- 
stant.     Through  all  his  disasters  and  perils,  his  brethren 

20  stood  by  him  with  steadfast  loyalty.  The  army,  at  the  same 
time,  loved  him  as  armies  have  seldom  loved  any  but  the 
greatest  chiefs  who  have  led  them  to  victory.  Even  in  his 
disputes  with  distinguished  military  men,  he  could  always  .. 
count  on  the  support  of  the  military  profession.  While  such 
was  his  empire  over  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  he  enjoyed 
among  the  natives  a  popularity,  such  as  other  governors 
have  perhaps  better  merited,  but  such  as  no  other  governor 
has  been  able  to  attain.  He  spoke  their  vernacular  dialects 
with  facility  and  precision.     He  was  intimately  acquainted 

30  with  their  feelings  and  usages.  On  one  or  two  occasions, 
for  great  ends,  he  deliberately  acted  in  defiance  of  their 
opinion ;  but  on  such  occasions  he  gained  more  in  their 
respect  than  he  lost  in  their  love.  In  general,  he  carefully 
avoided  all  that  could  shock  their  national  or  religious  pre- 
judices. His  administration  was  indeed  in  many  respects 
faulty ;  but  the  Bengalee  standard  of  good  government  was 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  89 

not  high.  Under  the  Nabobs,  the  hurricane  of  Mahratta 
cavalry  had  passed  annually  over  the  rich  alluvial  plain. 
But  even  the  Mahratta  shrank  from  a  conflict  with  the 
mighty  children  of  the  sea ;  and  the  immense  rice-harvests 
of  the  Lower  Ganges  were  safely  gathered  in,  under  the 
protection  of  the  English  sword.  The  first  English  con- 
querors had  been  more  rapacious  and  merciless  even  than 
the  Mahrattas ;  but  that  generation  had  passed  away. 
Defective  as  was  the  police,  heavy  as  were  the  public 
burdens,  it  is  probable  that  the  oldest  man  in  Bengal  could  10 
not  recollect  a  season  of  equal  security  and  prosperity.  For 
the  first  time  within  living  memory,  the  province  was  placed 
under  a  government  strong  enough  to  prevent  others  from 
robbing,  and  not  inclined  to  play  the  robber  itself.  These 
things  inspired  good-will.  At  the  same  time,  the  constant 
success  of  Hastings  and  the  manner  in  which  he  extricated 
himself  from  every  difficulty  made  him  an  object  of  super- 
stitious admiration  ;  and  the  more  than  regal  splendour 
which  he  sometimes  displayed  dazzled  a  people  who  have 
much  in  common  with  children.  Even  now,  after  the  lapse  20 
of  more  than  fifty  years,  the  natives  of  India  still  talk  of 
him  as  the  greatest  of  the  English  ;  and  nurses  sing  children 
to  sleep  with  a  jingling  ballad  about  the  fleet  horses  and 
richly  caparisoned  elephants  of  Sahib  Warren  Hostein. 

The  gravest  offences  of  which  Hastings  was  guilty  did  not 
affect  his  popularity  with  the  people  of  Bengal ;  for  those 
offences  were  committed  against  neighbouring  states.  Those 
offences,  as  our  readers  must  have  perceived,  we  are  not  dis- 
posed to  vindicate  ;  yet,  in  order  that  the  censure  may  be 
justly  apportioned  to  the  transgresson,  it  is  fit  that  the  30 
motive  of  the  criminal  should  be  taken  into  consideration. 
The  motive  which  prompted  the  worst  acts  of  Hastings  was 
misdirected  and  ill-regulated  public  spirit.  The  rules  of 
justice,  the  sentiments  of  humanity,  the  plighted  faith  of 
treaties,  were  in  his  view  as  nothing,  when  opposed  to  the 
immediate  interest  of  the  state.     This  is  no  justification, 


90  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

(according  to  the  principles  either  of  morality,  or  of  what 
Jwe  believe  to  be  identical  with  morality,  namely,  far-sighted 
policy.  Nevertheless  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  which 
in  questions  of  this  sort  seldom  goes  far  wrong,  will  always 
recognise  a  distinction  between  crimes  which  originate  in  an 
inordinate  zeal  for  the  commonwealth,  and  crimes  which 
originate  in  selfish  cupidity.  To  the  benefit  of  this  distinc- 
tion Hastings  is  fairly  entitled.  There  is,  we  conceive,  no 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  Rohilla  war,  the  revolution  of 

10  Benares,  or  the  spoliation  of  the  Princesses  of  Oude,  added  a 
rupee  to  his  fortune.  We  will  not  affirm  that,  in  all  pe- 
cuniary dealings,  he  showed  that  punctilious  integrity,  that 
dread  of  the  faintest  appearance  of  evil,  which  is  now  the 
glory  of  the  Indian  civil  service.  But  when  the  school  in 
which  he  had  been  trained  and  the  temptations  to  which  he 
was  exposed  are  considered,  we  are  more  inclined  to  praise 
him  for  his  general  uprightness  with  respect  to  money,  than 
rigidly  to  blame  him  for  a  few  transactions  which  would 
now  be  called  indelicate  and  irregular,  but  which  even  now 

20  would  hardly  be  designated  as  corrupt.  A  rapacious  man  he 
certainly  was  not.  Had  he  been  so,  he  would  infallibly  have 
returned  to  his  country  the  richest  subject  in  Europe.  We 
speak  within  compass,  when  we  say  that,  without  applying 
any  extraordinary  pressure,  he  might  easily  have  obtained 
from  the  zemindars  of  the  Company's  provinces  and  from 
neighbouring  princes,  in  the  course  of  thirteen  years,  more 
than  three  millions  sterling,  and  might  have  outshone  the 
splendour  of  Carlton  House  and  of  the  Palais  Royal.  He 
brought  home  a  fortune  such  as  a  Governor-General,  fond  of 

30  state,  and  careless  of  thrift,  might  easily,  during  so  long  a 
tenure  of  office,  save  out  of  his  legal  salary.  Mrs.  Hastings, 
we  are  afraid,  was  less  scrupulous.  It  was  generally  be- 
lieved that  she  accepted  presents  with  great  alacrity,  and 
that  she  thus  formed,  without  the  connivance  of  her  hus- 
band, a  private  hoard  amounting  to  several  lacs  of  rupees. 
We  are  the  more  inclined  to  give  credit  to  this  story,  because 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  91 

Mr.  Gleig,  who  cannot  but  have  heard  it,  does  not,  as  far  as 
we  have  observed,  notice  or  contradict  it. 

The  influence  of  Mrs.  Hastings  over  her  husband  was 
indeed  such  that  she  might  easily  have  obtained  much  larger 
sums  than  she  was  ever  accused  of  receiving.  At  length  her 
health  began  to  give  way  ;  and  the  Governor-General,  much 
against  his  will,  was  compelled  to  send  her  to  England.  He 
seems  to  have  loved  her  with  that  love  which  is  peculiar  to 
men  of  strong  minds,  to  men  whose  affection  is  not  easily 
won  or  widely  diffused.  The  talk  of  Calcutta  ran  for  some  10 
time  on  the  luxurious  manner  in  which  he  fitted  up  the 
round-house  of  an  Indiaman  for  her  accommodation,  on  the 
profusion  of  sandal-wood  and  carved  ivory  which  adorned 
her  cabin,  and  on  the  thousands  of  rupees  which  had  been 
expended  in  order  to  procure  for  her  the  society  of  an  agree- 
able female  companion  during  the  voyage.  We  may  remark 
here  that  the  letters  of  Hastings  to  his  wife  are  exceedingly 
charact eristic.  They  are  tender,  and  full  of  indications  of 
esteem  and  confidence  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  a  little  more 
ceremonious  than  is  usual  in  so  intimate  a  relation.  The  20 
solemn  courtesy  with  which  he  compliments  "his  elegant 
Marian"  reminds  us  now  and  then  of  the  dignified  air  with 
which  Sir  Charles  Grandison  bowed  over  Miss  Byron's  hand 
in  the  cedar  parlour.  \  *     * 

After  some  months  Hastings  prepared  to  follow  his  wife 
to  England.  When  it  was  announced  that  he  was  about  to 
quit  his  office,  the  feeling  of  the  society  which  he  had  so  long 
governed  manifested  itself  by  many  signs.  Addresses  poured 
in  from  Europeans  and  Asiatics,  from  civil  functionaries, 
soldiers,  and  traders.  On  the  day  on  which  he  delivered  up  30 
the  keys  of  office,  a  crowd  of  friends  and  admirers  formed  a 
lane  to  the  quay  where  he  embarked.  Several  barges  escorted 
him  far  down  the  river ;  and  some  attached  friends  refused 
to  quit  him  till  the  low  coast  of  Bengal  was  fading  from  the 
view,  and  till  the  pilot  was  leaving  the  ship. 

Of  his  voyage  little  is  known,  except  that  he  amused  him- 


92  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

self  with  books  and  with  his  pen  ;  and  that,  among  the  com- 
positions by  which  he  beguiled  the  tediousness  of  that  long  fc> 
leisure,  was  a  pleasing  imitation  of  Horace's  Otium  Divos 
rogat  This  little  poem  was  inscribed  to  Mr.  Shore,  after- 
wards Lord  Teignmouth,  a  man  of  whose  integrity,  humanity, 
and  honour,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  too  highly ;  but  who, 
like  some  other  excellent  members  of  the  civil  service,  ex- 
tended to  the  conduct  of  his  friend  Hastings  an  indulgence 
of  which  his  own  conduct  never  stood  in  need. 

10  The  voyage  was,  for  those  times,  very  speedy.  Hastings 
was  little  more  than  four  months  on  the  sea.  In  June,  1785, 
he  landed  at  Plymouth,  posted  to  London,  appeared  at  Court, 
paid  his  respects  in  Leadenhall  Street,  and  then  retired  with 
his  wife  to  Cheltenham. 

He  was  greatly  pleased  with  his  reception.  The  King 
treated  him  with  marked  distinction.  The  Queen,  who  had 
already  incurred  much  censure  on  account  of  the  favour 
which,  in  spite  of  the  ordinary  severity  of  her  virtue,  she 
had  shown  to  the  "elegant  Marian,"  was  not  less  gracious 

20  to  Hastings.  The  Directors  received  him  in  a  solemn  sitting  ; 
and  their  chairman  read  to  him  a  vote  of  thanks  which  they 
had  passed  without  -one  dissentient  voice.  "  I  find  myself," 
said  Hastings,  in  a  letter  written  about  a  quarter  of  a  year 
after  his  arrival  in  England,  "  I  find  myself  every  where,  and 
universally,  treated  with  evidences,  apparent  even  to  my  own 
observation,  that  I  possess  the  good  opinion  of  my  country." 
The  confident  and  exulting  tone  of  his  correspondence 
about  this  time  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  he  had 
already  received  ample  notice  of  the  attack  which  was  in 

30  preparation.  Within  a  week  after  he  landed  at  Plymouth, 
Burke  gave  notice  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  a  motion 
seriously  affecting  a  gentleman  lately  returned  from  India. 
The  session,  however,  was  then  so  far  advanced,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  enter  on  so  extensive  and  important  a  subject. 

Hastings,  it  is  clear,  was  not  sensible  of  the  danger  of  his 
position.     Indeed  that  sagacity,  that  judgment,  that  readi- 


(jj  Caa^ 


WARREN  HASTING&  93 


ness  in  devising  expedients,  which  had  distinguished  him 
in  the  East,  seemed  now  to  have  forsaken  him  ;  not  that 
his  abilities  were  at  all  impaired  ;  not  that  he  was  not 
still  the  same  man  who  had  triumphed  over  Francis  and 
Nuncomar,  who  had  made  the  Chief  Justice  and  the  Nabob 
Vizier  his  tools,  who  had  deposed  Cheyte  Sing,  and  repelled 
Hyder  Ali.  But  an  oak,  as  Mr.  Grattan  finely  said,  should 
not  be  transplanted  at  fifty.  A  man  who,  having  left  Eng- 
land when  a  boy,  returns  to  it  after  thirty  or  forty  years 
passed  in  India,  will  find,  be  his  talents  what  they  may,  10 
that  he  has  much  both  to  learn  and  to  unlearn  before  he 
can  take  a  place  among  English  statesmen.  The  working 
of  a  representative  system,  the  war  of  parties,  the  arts  of 
debate,  the  influence  of  the  press,  are  startling  novelties  to 
him.  Surrounded  on  every  side  by  new,  machines  and  new 
tactics,  he  is  as,  much  bewildered  as  Hannibal  would  have 
been  at  Waterloo,  or  ThemistBcles  at  Trafalgar.  His  very^~ '"h 
acuteness  deludes  him.  His  very  vigour  causes  him  to 
stumble.  The  more  correct  his  maxims,  when  applied  to 
the  state  of  society  to  which  he  is  accustomed,  the  more  20 
certain  they  are  to  lead  him  astray.  This  was  strikingly 
the  case  with  Hastings.  In  India  he  had  a  bad  hand  ; 
but  he  was  master  of  the  game,  and  he  won  every  stake. 
In  England  he  held  excellent  cards,  if  he  had  known  how 
to  play  them  ;  and  it  was  chiefly  by  his  own  errors  that 
he  was  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  ^ 

-  Of  all  his  errors  the  most  serious  was  perhaps  the  choice  '<■ 
of  a  champion.  Clive,  in  similar  circumstances,  had  made  a 
singularly  happy  selection.  He  put  himself  into  the  hands 
of  Wedderburn,  afterwards  Lord  Loughborough,  one  of  the  30 
few  great  advocates  who  have  also  been  great  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  To  the  defence  of  Clive,  therefore,  nothing 
was  wanting,  neither  learning  nor  knowledge  of  the  world, 
neither  forensic  acuteness  nor  that  eloquence  which  charms 
political  assemblies.  Hastings  intrusted  his  interests  to  a 
very  different  person,  a  major  in  the  Bengal  army,  named 


94  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Scott.  This  gentleman  had  been  sent  over  from  India 
some  time  before  as  the  agent  of  the  Governor-General. 
It  was  rumoured  that  his  services  were  rewarded  with 
Oriental  munificence  ;  and  we  believe  that  he  received 
much  more  than  Hastings  could  conveniently  spare.  The 
major  obtained  a  seat  in  Parliament,  and  was  there  re- 
garded as  the  organ  of  his  employer.  It  was  evidently 
impossible  that  a  gentleman  so  situated  could  speak  with 
the  authority  which   belongs   to  an   independent   position. 

10  Nor  had  the  agent  of  Hastings  the  talents  necessary  for 
obtaining  the  ear  of  an  assembly  which,  accustomed  to 
listen  to  great  orators,  had  naturally  become  fastidious. 
He  was  always  on  his  legs  ;  he  was  very  tedious ;  and  he 
had  only  one  topic,  the  merits  and  wrongs  of  Hastings. 
Every  body  who  knows  the  House  of  Commons  will  easily 
guess  what  followed.  The  Major  was  soon  considered  as 
the  greatest  bore  of  his  time.  His  exertions  were  not 
confined  to  Parliament.  There  was  hardly  a  day  on  which 
the  newspapers  did  not  contain  some  puff  upon   Hastings 

20  signed  Asiaticus  or  Bengalensis,  but  known  to  be  written 
by  the  indefatigable  Scott  ;  and  hardly  a  month  in  which 
some  bulky  pamphlet  on  the  same  subject,  and  from  the 
same  pen,  did  not  pass  to  the  trunk-makers  and  the 
pastry-cooks.  As  to  this  gentleman's  capacity  for  conduct- 
ing a  delicate  question  through  Parliament,  our  readers 
will  want  no  evidence  beyond  that  which  they  will  find  in 
letters  preserved  in  these  volumes.  We  will  give  a  single 
specimen  of  his  temper  and  judgment.  He  designated  the 
greatest  man  theiTTiving  as  "  that  reptile  Mr.  Burke." 

30  In  spite,  however,  of  this  unfortunate  choice,  the  general 
aspect  of  affairs  was  favourable  to  Hastings.  The  King 
was  on  his  side.  The  Company  and  its  servants  were 
zealous  in  his  cause.  Among  public  men  he  had  many 
ardent  friends.  Such  were  Lord  Mansfield,  who  had  out- 
lived the  vigour  of  his  body,  but  not  that  of  his  mind  ; 
and  Lord  Lansdowne,  who,  though  unconnected  with  any 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  95 

party,    retained   the    importance    which    belongs    to    great 
talents    and    knowledge.      The    ministers    were    generally 
believed  to    be   favourable   to   the   late   Governor-General. 
They  owed  their  power  to   the  clamour  which  had  been  ,  -7  &V3 
raised  against  Mr.  Fox's  East  India  Bill.      The  authors  of 
that  bill,  when  accused  of  invading  vested  rights,  and   of'" 
setting  up  powers  unknown   to   the   constitution,  had   de-^  ;■  A 
fended  themselves  by  pointing  to  the  crimes  of   Hastings,        ^  ^ 
and    by   arguing    that    abuses    so    extraordinary    justified 
extraordinary    measures.      Those   who,    by    opposing    that  10 
bill,  had   raised   themselves   to   the  head  of  affairs,  would 
naturally  be   inclined    to    extenuate   the   evils   which   had 
been  made  the  plea  for  administering  so  violent  a  remedy  ; 
and  such,  in  fact,  was  their  general  disposition.     The  Lord 
Chancellor  Thurlow,  in  particular,  whose   great-  place   and 
force  of   intellect   gave   him  a  weight   in   the   government 
inferior   only  to  that  of  Mr..  Pitt,  espoused   the   cause   of    ^^ 
Hastings  with   indecorous  violence.      Mr.  Pitt,  though   he 
had    censured    many    parts    of    the    Indian    system,    had 
studiously  abstained  from  saying  a  word   against   the  late  20 
chief  of  the  Indian  government.     To  Major  Scott,  indeed, 
the  young  minister  had  in  private  extolled   Hastings  as  a 
great,  a  wonderful   man,  who   had   the   highest  claims  on 
the  government.     There  was  only  one  objection  to  granting 
all    that  so   eminent  a   servant   of    the   public   could   ask.        j_j^ 
The  resolution  of   censure  still   remained  on   the  Journals 
of  the  House  of   Commons.  -   That  resolution  was,  indeed, 
unjust ;    but,    till    it    was    rescinded,    could    the    minister 
advise   the   King   to   bestow  any  mark  of  approbation   on 
the  person  censured  ?     If  Major  Scott  is  to  be  trusted,  Mr.  30 
Pitt   declared  that   this  was   the   only   reason   which    pre- 
vented  the   government  from  conferring  a  peerage  on  the 
late  Governor- General.    Mr.  Dun  das  was  the  only  inportant 
member  of  the  administration  who  was  deeply  committed 
to  a   different  view  of  the   subject.      He   had   moved  the 
resolutions  which  created  the  difficulty  ;  but  even  from  him 


96  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

little  was  to  be  apprehended.  Since  he  presided  over  the 
committee  on  Eastern  affairs,  great  changes  had  taken 
place.  He  was  surrounded  by  new  allies  ;  he  had  fixed  his 
hopes  on  new  objects  ;  and  whatever  may  have  been  his 
good  qualities, — and  he  had  many, — flattery  itself  never 
reckoned  rigid  consistency  in  the  number. 

From  the  ministry,  therefore,  Hastings  had  every  reason 
to  expect  support ;  and  the  ministry  was  very  powerful. 
The  Opposition  was  loud  and  vehement  against  him.     But 

10  the  Opposition,  though  formidable  from  the  wealth  and 
influence  of  some  of  its  members,  and  from  the  admirable 
talents  and  eloquence  of  others,  was  outnumbered  in  par- 
liament, and  odious  throughout  the  country.  Nor,  as  far 
as  we  can  judge,  was  the  Opposition  generally  desirous  to 
engage  in  so  serious  an  undertaking  as  the  impeachment 
of  an  Indian  Governor.  Such  an  impeachment  must  last 
for  years.  It  must  impose  on  the  chiefs  of  the  party  an 
immense  load  of  labour.  Yet  it  could  scarcely,  in  any 
manner,  affect  the  event  of  the  great  political  game.     The 

20  followers  ^oT  the  coalition  were  therefore  more  inclined  to^ 
revile    Hastings    than    to    prosecute    him.      They    lost    no 
opportunity  of   coupling  his  name  with  the  names  of  the 
most  hateful  tyrants  of  whom  history  makes  mention.    The-^ 
wits  of  Brooks's  aimed  their  keenest  sarcasms  both  at  his  § 
public  and  at  his  domestic  life.     Some  fine  diamonds  which  9i 
he  had  presented,  as  it  was  rumoured,  to  the  royal  family, 
and  a  certain  richly  carved    ivory  bed  which    the   Queen 
had    done    him    the    honour    to    accept    from    him,    were 
favourite   subjects   of  ridicule.      One   lively  poet  proposed 

30  that  the  great  acts  of  the  fair  Marian's  present  husband 
should  be  immortalized  by  the  pencil  of  his  predecessor  ; 
and  that  Imhoff  should  be  employed  to  embellish  the 
House  of  Commons  with  paintings  of  the  bleeding  Rohillas, 
of  Nuncomar  swinging,  of  Cheyte  Sing  letting  himself 
^ni   down  to  the  Ganges.     Another,  in  an  exquisitely  humorous 

.^t  parody  of  Virgil's  third  eclogue,  propounded   the  question 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  97 

what  that  mineral  couldibe  of  which  the  rays  had  power 

to   make    the    most  austere   of   princesses  the  friend   of  a 

wanton.     A   third   described,    with   gay   malevolence,    the 

-}  gorgeous  appearance  of  Mrs.  Hastings  at  St.  James's,  the 

Jr   galaxy  of  jewels,  torn  from  Indian  Begums,  which  adorned  ^ 

/^ vher  head-dress,  her  necklace   gleaming  with  future  votes, 

and    the    depending   questions   that   shone   upon   her   ears.  s   ->J 
Satirical  attacks  of  this  description,  and  perhaps  a  motion 
for  a  vote  of  censure,  would  have  satisfied  the  great  body 
of  the  Opposition.  >^But  there  were  two  men  whose  indig-  10 
nation  was    not    to    be    so  appeased,   Philip    Francis  and 
Edmund  Burke. 

Francis  had  recently  entered  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
had  already  established  a  character  there  for  industry  and 
talent.  He  laboured  indeed  under  one  most  unfortunate 
defect,  want  of  fluency.  But  he  occasionally  expressed  him- 
self with  a  dignity  and  energy  worthy  of  the  greatest  orators. 
Before  he  had  been  many  days  in  parliament,  he  incurred  the 
bitter  dislike  of  Pitt,  who  constantly  treated  him  with  as 
much  asperity  as  the  laws  of  debate  would  allows  Neither  20 
lapse  of  years  nor  change  of  scene  had  mitigated  the  enmities^^/^/ 
which  Francis  had  brought  back  from  the  East.  After  his 
usual  fashion,  he  mistook  his  malevolence  for  virtue,  nursed 
it,  as  preachers  tell  us  that  we  ought  to  nurse  our  good  dis- 
positions, and  paraded  it,  on  all  occasions,  with  Pharisaical 
ostentation. 

The  zeal  of  Burke  was  still  fiercer ;  but  it  was  far  purer. 
Men  unable  to  understand  the  elevation  of  his  mind  have         ^ 
tried  to  find  out  some  discreditable  motive  for  the  vehemence  Jj^ 
and  pertinacity  which  he  showed  on  this  occasion.     But  they  30 
have  altogether  failed.      The  idle  story  that  he  had  some 
private  slight  to  revenge  has  long  been  given  up,  even  by 
the  advocates  of  Hastings.     Mr.  Gleig  supposes  that  Burke 
was   actuated   by   party  spirit,   that  he   retained   a  bitter 
remembrance  of  the  fall  of  the  coalition,  that  he  attributed 
that  fall  to  the  exertions  of  the  East  India  interest,  and  that 


98  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

he  considered  Hastings  as  the  head  and  the  representative  of 
that  interest.  This  explanation  seems  to  be  sufficiently 
refuted  by  a  reference  to  dates.  The  hostility  of  Burke  to 
Hastings  commenced  long  before  the  coalition ;  and  lasted 
long  after  Burke  had  become  a^strenuous  supporter  of  those 
by  whom  the  coalition  had  been  defeated.  It  began  when 
Burke  and  Fox,  closely  allied  together,  were  attacking  the 
influence  of  the  crown,  and  calling  for  peace  with  the 
American  republic.  It  continued  till  Burke,  alienated  from 
10  Fox,  and  loaded  with  the  favours  of  the  crown,  died,  preach- 
ing a  crusade  against  the  French  republic.  It  seems  absurd 
to  attribute  to  the  events  of  1784  an  enmity  which  began  in 
1781,  and  which  retained  undiminished  force  long  after 
persons  far  more  deeply  implicated  than  Hastings  in  the 
events  of  .1784  had  been  cordially  forgiven.  ^And  why  should 
we  look  for  any  other  explanation  of  Burke's  conduct  than  A 
that  which  we  find  on  the  surface  ?  The  plain  truth  is  that 
Hastings  had  committed  some  great  crimes,  and  that  the 
thought  of  those  crimes  made  the  blood  of  Burke  boil  in  his 
20  veins.  For  Burke  was  a  man  in  whom  compassion  for  suffer- 
ing, and  hatred  of  injustice  and  tyranny,  were  as  strong  as  i 
"  Las   Casas  or  Clarkson.     And  although  in  him,   as  in  Las 

^"^[^Casas  and  in  Clarkson,  these  noble  feelings  were  alloyed  with, 
the  infirmity  which  belongs  to  human  nature,  he  is,  like 
them,  entitled  to  this  great  praise,  that  he  devoted  years  of 
intense  labour  to  the  service  of  a  people  with  whom  he  had 
neither  blood  nor  language,  neither  religion  nor  manners  in 
common,  and  from  whom  no  requital,  no  thanks,  no  applause 
could  be  expected. 
,.  .^.(W  His  knowledge  of  India  was  such  as  few  even  of  those 
Europeans  who  have  passed  many  years  in  that  country  have 
attained,  and  such  as  certainly  was  never  attained  by  any 
public  man  who  had  not  quitted  Europe.  He  had  studied 
the  history,  the  laws,  and  the  usages  of  the  East  with  an 
industry  such  as  is  seldom  found  united  to  so  much  genius 
and  so  much  sensibility.     Others  have  perhaps  been  equally 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  99 

laborious,  and  have  collected  an  equal  mass  of  materials. 
/But  the  manner  in  which  Burke  brought  his  higher  powers 
of  intellect  to  work  on  statements  of  facts,  and  on  tables  of 
figures,  was  peculiar  to  himself.  Jin  every  part  of  those  huge 
bales  of  Indian  information  which  repelled  almost  all  other 
readers,  his  mind,  at  once  philosophical  and  poetical,  found 
something  to  instruct  or  to  delight.     His  reason  analysed 

d  <J<and  digested  those  vast  and  shapeless  masses  ;  his  imagina- 
tion animated  and  coloured  them.  Out  of  darkness,  and 
dulness,  and  confusion,  he  formed  a  multitude  of  ingenious  10  .  • 

.^h    theories  and  vivid  pictures.     He  had,  in  the  highest  degree, 
that  noble  faculty  whereby  man  is  able  to  live  in  the  past 
and  in  the  future,  in  the  distant  and  in  the  unreal.     India 
and  its  inhabitants  were  not  to  him,  as  to  most  Englishmen, 
mere  names  and  abstractions,  but  a  real  country  and  a  real     / 
people.     The  burning  sun,   the   strange   vegetation   of   thej* 
palm  and  the  cocoa  tree,  the  rice-field,  the  tank,  the  huge  -* 
trees,  older  than  the  Mogul  empire,  under  which  the  village 
crowds  assemble,  the  thatched  roof  of  the  peasant's  hut,  the    aj) 
rich  tracery  of  the  mosque  where  the  imaum  prays  with  his, 20 
face  to  Mecca,  the  drums,  and  banners,  and  gaudy  idols,  trie  ^ .  t , 
devotees  swinging  in  the  air,  the  graceful  maiden,  with  the 
pitcher  on  her  head,  descending  the  steps  to  the  river-side, 
the  black  faces,  the  long  beards,  the  yellow  streaks  of  sect, 
the  turbans  and  the  flowing  robes,  the  spears  and  the  silver 
maces,  the  elephants  with  their  canopies  of  state,  the  gor- 
geous palanquin  of  the  prince,  and  the  close  litter  of  the 
noble  lady,  all  those  things  were  to  him  as  the  objects  amidst 
which  his  own  life  had  been  passed,  as  the  objects  which  lay 
on  the  road  between  Beaconsfield  and  St.  James's  Street.  30 
All  India  was  present  to  the  eye  of  his  mind,  from  the  halls 
where  suitors  laid  gold  and  perfumes  at  the  feet  of  sovereigns 
to  the  wild  moor  where  the  gipsy  camp  was  pitched,  from 
the    bazars,    humming   like  bee -hives  with  the  crowd  of 
buyers  and  sellers,  to  the  jungle  where  the  lonely  courier 
shakes  his  bunch  of  iron  rings  to  scare  away  the  hyaenas. 


Qf>    * 


s 


ywi 


•es 
in 


100  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

He  had  just  as  lively  an  idea  of  the  insurrection  at  Benares 
as  of  Lord  George  Gordon's  riots,  and  of  the  execution 
Nunconiar  as  of  the  execution  of  Dr.  Dodd.     Oppression 
Bengal  was  to  him  the  same  thing  as'oppression  in  the  streets 
of  London. 

He   saw  that  Hastings  had  been  guilty  of  some  most 
unjustifiable  acts.     All  that  followed  was  natural  and  neces- 
sary in  a  mind  like   Burke's.      His  imagination  and  his  ^ 
passions,  once  excited,  hurried  him  beyond  the  bounds  of 

10  justice  and  good  sense.  His  reason,  powerful  as  it  was,  U 
became  the  slave  of  feelings  which  it  should  have  controlled. 
His  indignation,  virtuous  in  its  origin,  acquired  too  much  of 
the  character  of  personal  aversion.  He  could  see  no  miti- 
gating circumstance,  no  redeeming  merit.  His  temper, 
which,  though  generous  and  affectionate,  had  always  been 
irritable,  had  now  been  made  almost  savage  by  bodily 
infirmities  and  mental  vexations.  Conscious  of  great  powers 
and  great  virtues,  he  found  himself,  in  age  and  poverty,  a 
mark  for  the  hatred  of  a  perfidious   court  and  a  deluded 

20  people.  In  Parliament  his  eloquence  was  out  of  date.  A 
young  generation,  which  knew  him  not,  had  filled  the  House. 
Whenever  he  rose  to  speak,  his  voice  was  drowned  by  the 
unseemly  interruptions  of  lads  who  were  in  their  cradles 
when  his  orations  on  the  Stamp  Act  called  forth  the  applause  s 
of  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham.  These  things  had  produced 
on  his  proud  and  sensitive  spirit  an  effect  at  which  we  cannot 
wonder.  He  could  no  longer  discuss  any  question  with 
calmness,  or  make  allowance  for  honest  differences  of  opinion. 
Those  who  think  that  he  was  more  violent  and  acrimonious 

30  in  debates  about  India  than  on  other  occasions  are  ill 
informed  respecting  the  last  years  of  his  life.  In  the 
discussions  on  the  Commercial  Treaty  with  the  Court  of 
Versailles,  on  the  Regency,  on  the  French  Revolution,  he 
showed  even  more  virulence  than  in  conducting  the  impeach- 
ment. Indeed  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  very  persons 
who  called  him  a  mischievous  maniac,  for  condemning  in 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  101 

burning  words  the  Rohilla  war  and  the  spoliation  of  the 
Begums,  exalted  him  into  a  prophet  as  soon  as  he  began  to 
declaim,  with  greater  vehemence,  and  not  with  greater,  f 
reason,  against  the  taking  of  the  Bastile  and  the  insults^ 
offered  to  Marie  Antoinette.  To  us  he  appears  to  have  been 
neither  a  maniac  in  the  former  case,  nor  a  prophet  in  the 
latter,  but  in  both  cases  a  great  and  good  man,  led  into 
extravagance  by  a  tempestuous  sensibility  which  domineered 
over  all  his  faculties. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  personal   antipathy  of  10 
Francis,  or  the  nobler  indignation  of  Burke,  would  have 
led  their  party  to  adopt  extreme  measures  against  Hastings, 
if  his  own  conduct  had  been  judicious.     He   should  have 
felt  that,  great  as  his  public  services  had  been,  he  was  not 
faultless  ;  and  should  have  been  content  to  make  his  escape, 
without  aspiring  to  the  honours  of  a  triumph.     He  and  his 
agent  took  a  different  view.     They  were  impatient  for  the 
rewards  which,  as  they  conceived,  were  deferred  only  till 
Burke's  attack  should  be  over.     They  accordingly  resolved 
to  force  on  a  decisive  action,  with  an  enemy  for  whom,  if  20 
they  had  been  wise,  they  would   have  made  a   bridge   of  vO^ 
gold.     On  the  first  day  of  the  session  of  1786,  Major  Scott  jh 
reminded  Burke  of  the  notice  given  in  the  preceding  year, 
and  asked  whether  it  was  seriously  intended  to  bring  any 
charge  against  the  late  Governor-General.     This  challenge 
left  no   course   open    to    the   Opposition,   except    to   come 
forward  as  accusers,  or  to  acknowledge  themselves  calum- 
niators.    The  administration  of  Hastings  had  not  been  so 
blameless,  nor  was  the  great  party  of  Fox  and  North  so 
feeble,   that  it  could   be  prudent  to  venture   on  so   bold  30 
a  defiance.     The  leaders  of  the  Opposition  instantly  returned 
the  only  answer  which  they  could  with  honour  return  ;  and 
the  whole  party  was  irrevocably  pledged  to  a  prosecution. 

Burke  began  his  operations  by  applying  for  papers. 
Some  of  the  documents  for  which  he  asked  were  refused 
by  the  ministers,  who,  in  the  debate,  held  language  such 


102  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

as  strongly  confirmed  the  prevailing  opinion,  that  they 
intended  to  support  Hastings.  In  April  the  charges  were 
laid  on  the  table.  They  had  been  drawn  by  Burke  with 
great  ability,  though  in  a  form  too  much  resembling  that 
of  a  pamphlet.  Hastings  was  furnished  with  a  copy  of 
the  accusation  ;  and  it  was  intimated  to  him  that  he  might, 
if  he  thought  fit,  be  heard  in  his  own  defence  at  the  bar 
of  the  Commons. 

Here  again  Hastings  was  pursued  by  the  same  fatality 

10  which  had  attended  him  ever  since  the  day  when  he  set 
foot  on  English  ground.  It  seemed  to  be  decreed  that  this 
man,  so  politic  and  so  successful  in  the  East,  should  com- 
mit nothing  but  blunders  in  Europe.  Any  judicious  adviser 
would  have  told  him  that  the  best  thing  which  he  could 
do  would  be  to  make  an  eloquent,  forcible,  and  affecting 
oration  at  the  bar  of  the  House  ;  but  that,  if  he  could 
not  trust  himself  to  speak,  and  found  it  necessary  to  read, 
he  ought  to  be  as  concise  as  possible.  Audiences  accus- 
tomed to  extemporaneous  debating  of  the  highest  excellence 

20  are  always  impatient  of  long  written  compositions.  Hast- 
ings, however,  sat  down  as  he  would  have  done  at  the 
Government-house  in  Bengal,  and  prepared  a  paper  of 
immense  length.  That  paper,  if  recorded  on  the  consulta- 
tions of  an  Indian  administration,  would  have  been  justly 
praised  as  a  very  able  minute.  But  it  was  now  out  of 
place.  It  fell  flat,  as  the  best  written  defence  must  have 
fallen  flat,  on  an  assembly  accustomed  to  the  animated  and 
strenuous  conflicts  of  Pitt  and  Fox.  The  members,  as  soon 
as  their  curiosity  about  the  face  and  demeanour  of  so  emi- 

30  nent  a  stranger  was  satisfied,  walked  away  to  dinner,  and 
left  Hastings  to  tell  his  story  till  midnight  to  the  clerks 
and  the  Sergeant-at-arms. 

All  preliminary  steps  having  been  duly  taken,  Burke, 
in  the  beginning  of  June,  brought  forward  the  charge 
relating  to  the  Rohilla  war.  He  acted  discreetly  in  plac- 
ing this  accusation  in  the  van  ;  for  Dundas  had  formerly 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  103 

moved,  and  the  House  had  adopted,  a  resolution  condemn- 
ing, in  the  most  severe  terms,  the  policy  followed  by 
Hastings  with  regard  to  Rohilcund.  Dundas  had  little, 
or  rather  nothing,  to  say  in  defence  of  his  own  consistency ; 
but  he  put  a  bold  face  on  the  matter,  and  opposed  the 
motion.  Among  other  things,  he  declared  that,  though  he 
still  thought  the  Rohilla  war  unjustifiable,  he  considered 
the  services  which  Hastings  had  subsequently  rendered  to 
the  state  as  sufficient  to  atone  even  for  so  great  an  offence. 
Pitt  did  not  speak,  but  voted  with  Dundas ;  and  Hastings  10 
was  absolved  by  a  hundred  and  nineteen  votes  against  sixty- 
seven. 

Hastings  was  now  confident  of  victory.  It  seemed,  indeed, 
that  he  had  reason  to  be  so.  The  Rohilla  war  was,  of  all 
his  measures,  that  which  his  accusers  might  with  greatest 
advantage  assail.  It  had  been  condemned  by  the  Court  of 
Directors.  It  had  been  condemned  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. It  had  been  condemned  by  Mr.  Dundas,  who  had 
since  become  the  chief  minister  of  the  Crown  for  Indian 
affairs.  Yet  Burke,  having  chosen  this  strong  ground,  had  20 
been  completely  defeated  on  it.  That,  having  failed  here, 
he  should  succeed  on  any  point,  was  generally  thought 
impossible.  It  was  rumoured  at  the  clubs  and  coffee-houses 
that  one  or  perhaps  two  more  charges  would  be  brought 
forward,  that  if,  on  those  charges,  the  sense  of  the  House  of 
Commons  should  be  against  impeachment,  the  Opposition 
would  let  the  matter  drop,  that  Hastings  would  be  immed- 
iately raised  to  the  peerage,  decorated  with  the  star  of  the 
Bath,  sworn  of  the  privy  council,  and  invited  to  lend  the 
assistance  of  his  talents  and  experience  to  the  India  board.  30 
Lord  Thurlow,  indeed,  some  months  before,  had  spoken  with 
contempt  of  the  scruples  which  prevented  Pitt  from  calling 
Hastings  to  the  House  of  Lords  ;  and  had  even  said,  that  if 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  was  afraid  of  the  Commons, 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal 
from  taking  the  royal  pleasure  about  a  patent  of  peerage. 


104  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

The  very  title  was  chosen.  Hastings  was  to  be  Lord  Dayles- 
ford.  For,  through  all  changes  of  scene  and  changes  of 
fortune,  remained  unchanged  his  attachment  to  the  spot 
which  had  witnessed  the  greatness  and  the  fall  of  his  family, 
and  which  had  borne  so  great  a  part  in  the  first  dreams  of 
his  young  ambition. 

But  in  a  very  few  days  these  fair  prospects  were  overcast. 
On  the  thirteenth  of  June,  Mr.  Fox  brought  forward,  with 
great  ability  and  eloquence,  the  charge  respecting  the  treat- 

10  ment  of  Cheyte  Sing.  Francis  followed  on  the  same  side. 
The  friends  of  Hastings  were  in  high  spirits  when  Pitt  rose. 
With  his  usual  abundance  and  felicity  of  language,  the 
Minister  gave  his  opinion  on  the  case.  He  maintained  that 
the  Governor-General  was  justified  in  calling  on  the  Rajah 
of  Benares  for  pecuniary  assistance,  and  in  imposing  a  fine 
when  that  assistance  was  contumaciously  withheld.  He 
also  thought  that  the  conduct  of  the  Governor-General  dur- 
ing the  insurrection  had  been  distinguished  by  ability  and 
presence  of  mind.     He  censured,  with  great  bitterness,  the 

20  conduct  of  Francis,  both  in  India  and  in  Parliament,  as 
most  dishonest  and  malignant.  The  necessary  inference 
from  Pitt's  arguments  seemed  to  be  that  Hastings  ought 
to  be  honourably  acquitted  ;  and  both  the  friends  and  the 
opponents  of  the  Minister  expected  from  him  a  declaration 
to  that  effect.  To  the  astonishment  of  all  parties,  he  con- 
cluded by  saying  that,  though  he  thought  it  right  in 
Hastings  to  fine  Cheyte  Sing  for  contumacy,  yet  the  amount 
of  the  fine  was  too  great  for  the  occasion.  On  this  ground, 
and  on  this  ground  alone,  did  Mr.  Pitt,  applauding  every 

30  other  part  of  the  conduct  of  Hastings  with  regard  to 
Benares,  declare  that  he  should  vote  in  favour  of  Mr.  Fox's 
motion. 

The  House  was  thunderstruck  ;  and  it  well  might  be  so. 
For  the  wrong  done  to  Cheyte  Sing,  even  had  it  been  as 
flagitious  as  Fox  and  Francis  contended,  was  a  trifle  when 
compared  with   the   horrors   which   had  been   inflicted  on 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  105 

Eohilcund.  But  if  Mr.  Pitt's  view  of  the  case  of  Cheyte 
Sing  were  correct,  there  was  no  ground  for  an  impeachment, 
or  even  for  a  vote  of  censure.  ?If  the  offence  of  Hastings 
was  really  no  more  than  this,  that,  having  a  right  to  impose 
a  mulct,  the  amount  of  which  mulct  was  not  defined,  but 
was  left  to  be  settled  by  his  discretion,  he  had,  not  for  his 
own  advantage,  but  for  that  of  the  state,  demanded  too 
much,  was  this  an  offence  which  required  a  criminal  proceed- 
ing of  the  highest  solemnity,  a  criminal  proceeding,  to 
which,  during  sixty  years,  no  public  functionary  had  been  10 
subjected  ?  We  can  see,  we  think,  in  what  way  a  man 
of  sense  and  integrity  might  have  been  induced  to  take  any 
course  respecting  Hastings,  except  the  course  which  Mr.  Pitt 
took.  Such  a  man  might  have  thought  a  great  example 
necessary,  for  the  preventing  of  injustice,  and  for  the 
vindicating  of  the  national  honour,  and  might,  on  that 
ground,  have  voted  for  impeachment  both  on  the  Eohilla 
charge,  and  on  the  Benares  charge.  Such  a  man  might  have 
thought  that  the  offences  of  Hastings  had  been  atoned  for 
by  great  services,  and  might,  on  that  ground,  have  voted  2$ 
against  the  impeachment,  on  both  charges.  With  great 
diffidence,  we  give  it  as  our  opinion  that  the  most  correct 
course  would,  on  the  whole,  have  been  to  impeach  on  the 
Eohilla  charge,  and  to  acquit  on  the  Benares  charge,  pad 
the  Benares  charge  appeared  to  us  in  the  same  light  m 
which  it  appeared  to  Mr.  Pitt,  we  should,  without  hesitation, 
have  voted  for  acquittal  on  that  charge.  The  one  course 
which  it  is  inconceivable  that  any  man  of  a  tenth  part  of 
Mr.  Pitt's  abilities  can  have  honestly  taken  was  the  course 
which  he  took.  He  acquitted  Hastings  on  the  Eohilla  30 
charge.  He  softened  down  the  Benares  charge  till  it  became 
no  charge  at  all  ;  and  then  he  pronounced  that  it  contained 
matter  for  impeachment. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  principal  reason  assigned 
by  the  ministry  for  not  impeaching  Hastings  on  account  of 
the  Eohilla  war  was  this,  that  the  delinquencies  of  the  early 


106  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

part  of  his  administration  had  been  atoned  for  by  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  later  part,  ffias  it  not  most  extraordinary 
that  men  who  had  held  this  language  could  afterwards  vote 
that  the  later  part  of  his  administration  furnished  matter 
for  no  less  than  twenty  articles  of  impeachment  ?  They  first 
represented  the  conduct  of  Hastings  in  1780  and  1781  as  so 
highly  meritorious  that,  like  works  of  supererogation  in  the 
Catholic  theology,  it  ought  to  be  efficacious  for  the  cancelling 
of  former  offences  ;  and  they  then  prosecuted  him  for  his 

10  conduct  in  1780  and  1781. 

The  general  astonishment  was  the  greater,  because,  only 
twenty-four  hours  before,  the  members  on  whom  the  mini- 
ster could  depend  had  received  the  usual  notes  from  the 
Treasury,  begging  them  to  be  in  their  places  and  to  vote 
against  Mr.  Fox's  motion.  It  was  asserted  by  Mr.  Hastings 
that,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  very  day  on  which  the 
debate  took  place,  Dundas  called  on  Pitt,  woke  him,  and  was 
closeted  with  him  many  hours.  The  result  of  this  conference 
was  a  determination  to  give  up  the  late  Governor-General  to 

20  the  vengeance  of  the  Opposition.  It  was  impossible  even  for 
the  most  powerful  minister  to  carry  all  his  followers  with 
him  in  so  strange  a  course.  Several  persons  high  in  office, 
the  Attorney-General,  Mr.  Glenville,  and  Lord  Mulgrave, 
divided  against  Mr.  Pitt.  But  the  devoted  adherents  who 
stood  by  the  head  of  the  government  without  asking  ques- 
tions, were  sufficiently  numerous  to  turn  the  scale.  A 
hundred  and  nineteen  members  voted  for  Mr.  Pox's  motion  ; 
seventy-nine  against  it.  Dundas  silently  followed  Pitt. 
That  good  and  great  man,  the  late  William  Wilberforce, 

30  often  related  the  events  of  this  remarkable  night.  He 
described  the  amazement  of  the  House,  and  the  bitter  re- 
flections which  were  muttered  against  the  Prime  Minister 
by  some  of  the  habitual  supporters  of  government.  Pitt 
himself  appeared  to  feel  that  his  conduct  required  some 
explanation.  He  left  the  treasury  bench,  sat  for  some  time 
next  to  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  very  earnestly  declared  that  he 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  107 

had  found  it  impossible,  as  a  man  of  conscience,  to  stand  any 
longer  by  Hastings.  The  business,  he  said,  was  too  bad. 
Mr.  Wilberforce,  we  are  bound  to  add,  fully  believed  that 
his  friend  was  sincere,  and  that  the  suspicions  to  which  this 
mysterious  affair  gave  rise  were  altogether  unfounded. 

Those  suspicions,  indeed,  were  such  as  it  is  painful  to 
mention.  The  friends  of  Hastings,  most  of  whom,  it  is 
to  be  observed,  generally  supported  the  administration, 
affirmed  that  the  motive  of  Pitt  and  Dundas  was  jealousy. 
Hastings  was  personally  a  favourite  with  the  king.  He  was_  1© 
the  idol  of  the  East  India  Company  and  of  its  servants.  ^If 
he  were  absolved  by  the  Commons,  seated  among  the  LomsJ 
admitted  to  the  Board  of  Control,  closely  allied  with  the 
strong-minded  and  imperious  Thurlow,  was  it  not  almost 
certain  that  he  would  soon  draw  to  himself  the  entire 
management  of  Eastern  affairs  ?  ijWas  it  not  possible  that 
he  might  become  a  formidable  rival  m  the  cabinet  ?  It  had 
probably  got  abroad  that  very  singular  communications  had 
taken  place  between  Thurlow  and  Major  Scott,  and  that,  if 
the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  was  afraid  to  recommend  2£ 
Hastings  for  a  peerage,  the  Chancellor  was  ready  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  that  step  on  himself.  Of  all  ministers,  Pitt 
was  the  least  likely  to  submit  with  patience  to  such  an 
encroachment  on  his  functions.  If  the  Commons  impeached 
Hastings,  all  danger  was  at  an  end.  The  proceeding,  how- 
ever it  might  terminate,  would  probably  last  some  years. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  accused  person  would  be  excluded 
from  honours  and  public  employments,  and  could  scarcely 
venture  even  to  pay  his  duty  at  court.  Such  were  the 
motives  attributed  by  a  great  part  of  the  public  to  the  30 
young  minister,  whose  ruling  passion  was  generally  believed 
to  be  avarice  of  power.  _ 

The  prorogation  soon  interrupted  the  discussions  respect- 
ing Hastings.  In  the  following  year,  those  discussions  were 
resumed.  The  charge  touching  the  spoliation  of  the  Begums 
was  brought  forward  by  Sheridan,  in  a  speech  which  was  so 


108  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

imperfectly  reported  that  it  may  be  said  to  be  wholly  lost, 
but  which  was,  without  doubt,  the  most  elaborately  brilliant 
of  all  the  productions  of  his  ingenious  mind.  The  impression 
which  it  produced  was  such  as  has  never  been  equalled.  He 
sat  down,  not  merely  amidst  cheering,  but  amidst  the  loud 
clapping  of  hands,  in  which  the  Lords  below  the  bar  and  the 
strangers  in  the  gallery  joined.  The  excitement  of  the 
House  was  such  that  no  other  speaker  could  obtain  a  hear- 
ing ;  and  the  debate  was  adjourned.     The  ferment  spread 

10  fast  through  the  town.  Within  four  and  twenty  hours, 
Sheridan  was  offered  a  thousand  pounds  for  the  copyright  of 
the  speech,  if  he  would  himself  correct  it  for  the  press.  The 
impression  made  by  this  remarkable  display  of  eloquence  on 
severe  and  experienced  critics,  whose  discernment  may  be 
supposed  to  have  been  quickened  by  emulation,  was  deep  ' 
and  permanent.  Mr.  Windham,  twenty  years  later,  said 
that  the  speech  deserved  all  its  fame,  and  was,  in  spite  of 
some  faults  of  taste,  such  as  were  seldom  wanting  either 
in   the   literary   or  in   the   parliamentary  performances   of 

20  Sheridan,  the  finest  that  had  been  delivered  within  the 
memory  of  man.  Mr.  Fox,  about  the  same  time,  being 
asked  by  the  late  Lord  Holland  what  was  the  best  speech 
ever  made  in  the  House  of  Commons,  assigned  the  first 
place,  without  hesitation,  to  the  great  oration  of  Sheridan  on 
the  Oude  charge. 

When  the  debate  was  resumed,  the  tide  ran  so  strongly 
against  the  accused  that  his  friends  were  coughed  and 
scraped  down.  Pitt  declared  himself  for  Sheridan's  motion ; 
and  the  question  was  carried  by  a  hundred  and   seventy- 

30  five  votes  against  sixty-eight. 

The  Opposition,  flushed  with  victory  and  strongly  sup- 
ported by  the  public  sympathy,  proceeded  to  bring  forward 
a  succession  of  charges  relating  chiefly  to  pecuniary  trans- 
actions. The  friends  of  Hastings  were  discouraged,  and, 
having  now  no  hope  of  being  able  to  avert  an  impeachment, 
were   not   very   strenuous   in   their   exertions.     At   length 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  109 

the  House,  having  agreed  to  twenty  articles  of  charge, 
directed  Burke  to  go  before  the  Lords,  and  to  impeach  the 
late  Governor-General  of  High  Crimes  and  Misdemeanours. 
Hastings  was  at  the  same  time  arrested  by  the  Sergeant-- 
at-arms,  and  carried  to  the  bar  of  the  Peers. 

The  session  was  now  within  ten  days  of  its  close.  It 
was,  therefore,  impossible  that  any  progress  could  be  made 
in  the  trial  till  the  next  year.  Hastings  was  admitted  to 
bail ;  and  further  proceedings  were  postponed  till  the 
Houses  should  re-assemble.  10 

When  Parliament  met  in  the  following  winter,  the 
Commons  proceeded  to  elect  a  committee  for  managing 
the  impeachment.  Burke  stood  at  the  head  ;  and  with 
him  were  associated  most  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Opposition.  But  when  the  name  of  Francis  was  read  a 
fierce  contention  arose.  It  was  said  that  Francis  and 
Eastings  were  notoriously  on  bad  terms,  that  they  had 
been  at  feud  during  many  years,  that  on  one  occasion 
their  mutual  aversion  had  impelled  them  to  seek  each 
other's  lives,  and  that  it  would  be  improper  and  indelicate  20 
to  select  a  private  enemy  to  be  a  public  accuser.  It  was 
urged  on  the  other  side  with  great  force,  particularly  by 
Mr.  Windham,  that  impartiality,  though  the  first  duty  of 
a  judge,  had  never  been  reckoned  among  the  qualities  of 
an  advocate  ;  that  in  the  ordinary  administration  of  criminal 
justice  among  the  English,  the  aggrieved  party,  the  very 
last  person  who  ought  to  be  admitted  into  the  jury-box, 
is  the  prosecutor  ;  that  what  was  wanted  in  a  manager 
was,  not  that  he  should  be  free  from  bias,  but  that  he 
should  be  able,  well  informed,  energetic,  and  active.  30 
The  ability  and  information  of  Francis  were  admitted  ; 
and  the  very  animosity  with  which  he  was  reproached, 
whether  a  virtue  or  a  vice,  was  at  least  a  pledge  for  his 
energy  and  activity.  It  seems  difficult  to  refute  these 
arguments.  But  the  inveterate  hatred  borne  by  Francis 
to    Hastings    had    excited    general    disgust.      The    House 


110  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

decided  that  Francis  should  not  be  a  manager.     Pitt  voted 
with  the  majority,  Dundas  with  the  minority. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  preparations  for  the  trial  had  pro- 
ceeded rapidly ;  and  on  the  thirteenth  of  February,  1788, 
the  sittings  of  the  Court  commenced.  There  have  been 
spectacles  more  dazzling  to  the  eye,  more  gorgeous  with 
jewellery  and  cloth  of  gold,  more  attractive  to  grown-up 
children,  than  that  which  was  then  exhibited  at  West- 
minster ;  but,  perhaps,  there  never  was  a  spectacle  so  well 

10  calculated  to  strike  a  highly  cultivated,  a  reflecting,  an 
imaginative  mind.  All  the  various  kinds  of  interest  which 
belong  to  the  near  and  to  the  distant,  to  the  present  and 
to  the  past,  were  collected  on  one  spot,  and  in  one  hour. 
All  the  talents  and  all  the  accomplishments  which  are 
developed  by  liberty  and  civilisation  were  now  displayed, 
with  every  advantage  that  could  be  derived  both  from  co- 
}  operation  and  from  contrast.  Every  step  in  the  proceed- 
KZ)  mgs  carried  the  mind  either  backward,  through  many 
troubled  centuries,  to  the  days  when  the  foundations  of  our 

20  constitution  were  laid  ;  or  far  away,  over  boundless  seas 
and  deserts,  to  dusky  nations  living  under  strange  stars, 
worshipping  strange  gods,  and  writing  strange  char- 
acters from  right  to  left.  The  High  Court  of  Parliament 
was  to  sit,  according  to  forms  handed  down  from  the 
days  of  the   Plantagenets,   on  an  Englishman  accused   of 

\    exercising    tyranny   over    the    lord    of    the    holy    city    of 

\   Benares,    and    over    the    ladies    of    the    princely   house    of  - 

£  Oude. 

The  place  was  worthy  of  such  a  trial.     It  was  the  great 

30  hall  of  William  Rufus,  the  hall  which  had  resounded  with 
acclamations  at  the  inauguration  of  thirty  kings,  the  hall 
which  had  witnessed  the  just  sentence  of  Bacon  and  the 
just  absolution  of  Somers,  the  hall  where  the  eloquence 
of  Strafford  had  for  a  moment  awed  and  melted  a 
victorious  party  inflamed  with  just  resentment,  the  hall 
where  Charles  had  confronted  the  High  Court  of  Justice 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  Ill 

with  the  placid  courage  which  has  half  redeemed  his 
fame.  Neither  military  nor  civil  pomp  was  wanting.  The 
avenues  were  lined  with  grenadiers.  The  streets  were 
kept  clear  by  cavalry.  The  peers,  robed  in  gold  and 
ermine,  were  marshalled  by  the  heralds  under  Garter  King- 
at-arms.  The  judges  in  their  vestments  of  state  attended 
to  give  advice  on  points  of  law.  Near  a  hundred  and 
seventy  lords,  three  fourths  of  the  Upper  House  as  the 
Upper  House  then  was,  walked  in  solemn  order  from  their 
usual  place  of  assembling  to  the  tribunal.  The  junior  10 
baron  present  led  the  way,  George  Eliott,  Lord  Heath- 
field,  recently  ennobled  for  his  memorable  defence  of 
Gibraltar  against  the  fleets  and  armies  of  France  and 
Spain.  The  long  procession  was  closed  by  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  Earl  Marshal  of  the  realm,  by  the  great  digni- 
taries, and  by  the  brothers  and  sons  of  the  King.  Last 
of  all  came  the  Prince  of  Wales,  conspicuous  by  his  fine 
person  and  noble  bearing.  The  grey  old  walls  were  hung 
with  scarlet.  The  long  galleries  were  crowded  by  an 
audience  such  as  has  rarely  excited  the  fears  or  the  20 
emulation  of  an  orator.  There  were  gathered  together, 
from  all  parts  of  a  great,  free,  enlightened,  and  prosperous 
empire,  grace  and  female  loveliness,  wit  and  learning,  the 
representatives  of  every  science  and  of  every  art.  There 
were  seated  round  the  Queen  the  fair-haired  young  daughters 
of  the  house  of  Brunswick.  There  the  Ambassadors  of 
great  Kings  and  Commonwealths  gazed  with  admiration 
on  a  spectacle  which  no  other  country  in  the  world  could 
present.  There  Siddons,  in  the  prime  of  her  majestic 
beauty,  looked  with  emotion  on  a  scene  surpassing  all  the  30 
imitations  of  the  stage.  There  the  historian  of  the  Roman 
Empire  thought  of  the  days  when  Cicero  pleaded  the 
cause  of  Sicily  against  Yerres,  and  when,  before  a  senate 
which  still  retained  some  show  of  freedom,  Tacitus  thun- 
dered against  the  oppressor  of  Africa.  There  were  seen, 
side  by  side,  the  greatest  painter  and  the  greatest  scholar  of 


1 1 2  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

the  age.  The  spectacle  had  allured  Reynolds  from  that 
easel  which  has  preserved  to  us  the  thoughtful  foreheads 
of  so  many  writers  and  statesmen,  and  the  sweet  smiles 
of  so  many  noble  matrons.  It  had  induced  Parr  to 
suspend  his  labours  in  that  dark  and  profound  mine  from 
which  he  had  extracted  a  vast  treasure  of  erudition,  a 
treasure  too  often  buried  in  the  earth,  too  often  paraded 
with  injudicious  and  inelegant  ostentation,  but  still  precious, 
massive,    and   splendid.      There    appeared    the    voluptuous 

10  charms  of  her  to  whom  the  heir  of  the  throne  had  in 
secret  plighted  his  faith.  There  too  was  she,  the  beautiful 
mother  of  a  beautiful  race,  the  Saint  Cecilia  whose  delicate 
features,  lighted  up  by  love  and  music,  art  has  rescued 
from  the  common  decay.  There  were  the  members  of  that 
brilliant  society  which  quoted,  criticized,  and  exchanged 
repartees,  under  the  rich  peacock-hangings  of  Mrs.  Mon- 
tague. And  there  the  ladies  whose  lips,  more  persuasive 
than  those  of  Fox  himself,  had  carried  the  Westminster 
election  against  palace  and  treasury,  shone  round  Georgiana 

20  Duchess  of  Devonshire. 

The  Sergeantamade  proclamation.  Hastings  advanced 
to  the  bar  an^l  ■tas^knee.  The  culprit  was  indeed  not 
unworthy  drj  K  presence.     He  had  ruled  an  exten- 

sive and  poptH  Mhtry,  and  made  laws  and  treaties, 
had  sent  fortlrtHH  ^nad  set  up  and  pulled  down  princes. 
And  in  his  high  place  he  had  so  borne  himself,  that  all 
had  feared  him,  that  most  had  loved  him,  and  that  hatred 
itself  could  deny  him  no  title  to  glory,  except  virtue.  He 
looked   like   a  great   man,   and   not   like  a  bad  man.     A 

30  person  small  and  emaciated,  yet  deriving  dignity  from  a 
carriage  which,  while  it  indicated  deference  to  the  court, 
indicated  also  habitual  self-possession  and  self-respect,  a 
high  and  intellectual  forehead,  a  brow  pensive,  but  not 
gloomy,  a  mouth  of  inflexible  decision,  a  face  pale  and 
worn,  but  serene,  on  which  was  written,  as  legibly  as 
under  the  picture  in  the  council- chamber  at  Calcutta,  Mens 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  113 

cequa  in  arduis ;  such  was  the  aspect  with  which  the  great 
proconsul  presented  himself  to  his  judges. 

His  counsel  accompanied  him,  men  all  of  whom  were 
afterwards  raised  by  their  talents  and  learning  to  the 
highest  posts  in  their  profession,  the  bold  and  strong- 
minded  Law,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench ; 
the  more  humane  and  eloquent  Dallas,  afterwards  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas ;  and  Plomer  who,  near 
twenty  years  later,  successfully  conducted  in  the  same  high 
court  the  defence  of  Lord  Melville,  and  subsequently  10 
became  Vice-chancellor  and  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

But  neither  the  culprit  n^Bhis  a<^ocates  attracted  so 
much  notice  as  the  accusers.  ^El  the  midst  of  the  blaze  of 
red  drapery,  a  space  had  been  fitted  up  with  green 
benches,  and  tables  for  the  Commons.  The  managers,  with 
Burke  at  their  head,  appeared  in  full  dress.  The  collectors 
of  gossip  did  not  fail  to  remark  that  even  Fox,  generally 
so  regardless  of  his  appearance,  had  paid  to  the  illustrious 
tribunal  the  compliment  of  wearing  a  bag  and  sword. 
Pitt  had  refused  to  be  one  of  the  conductors  of  the  im-  20 
peachment ;  and  his  commanding,  copious,  and  sonorous 
eloquence  was  wanting  to  that  great  muster  of  various 
talents.  Age  and  blindness  had  unfitted  Lord  North  for 
the  duties  of  a  public  prosecutor  ;  and  his  friends  were 
left  without  the  help  of  his  excellent  sense,  his  tact,  and 
his  urbanity.  But,  in  spite  of  the  absence  of  these  two 
distinguished  members  of  the  Lower  House,  the  box  in 
which  the  managers  stood  contained  an  array  of  speakers 
such  as  perhaps  had  not  appeared  together  since  the  great 
age  of  Athenian  eloquence.  There  were  Fox  and  Sheridan,  30 
the  English  Demosthenes  and  the  English  Hyperides. 
There  was  Burke,  ignorant,  indeed,  or  negligent  of  the 
art  of  adapting  his  reasonings  and  his  style  to  the  capacity 
and  taste  of  his  hearers,  but  in  amplitude  of  comprehen- 
sion and  richness  of  imagination  superior  to  every  orator, 
ancient   or  modern.      There,  with  eyes  reverentially  fixed 

H 


114  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

on  Burke,  appeared  the  finest  gentleman  of  the  age,  his 
form  developed  by  every  manly  exercise,  his  face  beaming 
with  intelligence  and  spirit,  the  ingenious,  the  chivalrous, 
the  high-souled  Windham.  Nor,  though  surrounded  by 
such  men,  did  the  youngest  manager  pass  unnoticed.  At 
an  age  when  most  of  those  who  distinguished  themselves 
in  life  are  still  contending  for  prizes  and  fellowships  at 
college,  he  had  won  for  himself  a  conspicuous  place  in 
parliament.      No  advantage   of  fortune   or  connection  was 

10  wanting  that  could  set  off  to  the  height  his  splendid 
talents  and  his  unblemished  honour.  At  twenty-three  he 
had  been  thought  worthy  to  be  ranked  with  the  veteran 
statesmen  who  appeared  as  the  delegates  of  the  British 
Commons,  at  the  bar  of  the  British  nobility.  All  who 
stood  at  that  bar,  save  him  alone,  are  gone,  culprit,  advo- 
cates, accusers.  To  the  generation  which  is  now  in  the 
vigour  of  life,  he  is  the  sole  representative  of  a  great  age 
which  has  passed  away.  But  those  who,  within  the  last 
ten  years,  have  listened  with  delight,  till  the  morning  sun 

20  shone    on    the    tapestries  of    the   House   of    Lords,  to   the 
lofty  and  animated   eloquence   of   Charles  Earl   Grey,  are 
able   to  form  some   estimate   of    the   powers  of  a  race  of  J>s 
men  among  whom  he  was  not  the  foremost. 

f    The   charges    and    the    answers    of    Hastings    were    first 

(^  read.      The   ceremony  occupied  two  whole   days,  and   was 

rendered  less   tedious  than  it  would  otherwise   have   been 

by  the  silver  voice  and  just  emphasis  of  Cowper,  the  clerk 

of  the  court,  a  near  relation  of  the  amiable  poet.     On  the 

}  third  day  Burke  rose.     Four  sittings  were  occupied  by  his 

30  opening  speech,  which  was  intended  to  be  a  general  intro- 
duction to  all  the  charges.  With  an  exuberance  of  thought 
and  a  splendour  of  diction  which  more  than  satisfied  the 
highly-raised  expectation  of  the  audience,  he  described  the 
character  and  institutions  of  the  natives  of  India,  re- 
counted the  circumstances  in  which  the  Asiatic  empire  of 
Britain  had  originated,  and   set  forth  the   constitution   of 


WARKEN  HASTINGS.  115 

the  Company  and  of  the  English  Presidencies.  Having 
thus  attempted  to  communicate  to  his  hearers  an  idea  of 
Eastern  society,  as  vivid  as  that  which  existed  in  his  own 
mind,  he  proceeded  to  arraign  the  administration  of  Hast- 
ings as  systematically  conducted  in  defiance  of  morality 
and  public  law.  The  energy  and  pathos  of  the  great 
orator  extorted  expressions  of  unwonted  admiration  from 
the  stern  and  hostile  Chancellor,  and,  for  a  moment, 
seemed  to  pierce  even  the  resolute  heart  of  the  defendant. 
The  ladies  in  the  galleries,  unaccustomed  to  such  displays  10 
of  eloquence,  excited  by  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and 
perhaps  not  unwilling  to  display  their  taste  and  sensi- 
bility, were  in  a  state  of  uncontrollable  emotion.  Hand- 
kerchiefs were  pulled  out ;  smelling-bottles  were  handed 
round  ;  hysterical  sobs  and  screams  were  heard  ;  and  Mrs. 
Sheridan  was  carried  out  in  a  fit.  At  length  the  orator 
concluded.  Kaising  his  voice  till  the  old  arches  of  Irish 
oak  resounded,  "Therefore,"  said  he,  "hath  it  with  all 
confidence  been  ordered  by  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain,  \ 
that  I  impeach  Warren  Hastings  of  high  crimes  and  mis-  2§j 
demeanours.  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  Commons' 
House  of  Parliament,  whose  trust  he  has  betrayed.  I 
impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  English  nation,  whose 
ancient  honour  he  has  sullied.  I  impeach  him  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  India,  whose  rights  he  has  trodden 
under  foot,  and  whose  country  he  has  turned  into  a  desert. 
Lastly,  in  the  name  of  human  nature  itself,  in  the  name 
of  both  sexes,  in  the  name  of  every  age,  in  the  name  of 
every  rank,  I  impeach  the  common  enemy  and  oppressor 
of  all!"  'a 

When  the  deep  murmur  of  various  emotions  had  sub- 
sided, Mr.  Fox  rose  to  address  the  Lords  respecting  the 
course  of  proceeding  to  be  followed.  The  wish  of  the 
accusers  was  that  the  Court  would  bring  to  a  close  the 
investigation  of  the  first  charge  before  the  second  was 
opened.      The   wish   of   Hastings  and   of  his   counsel  was 


116  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

that  the  managers  should  open  all  the  charges,  and  pro- 
duce all  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution,  before  the 
defence  began.  The  Lords  retired  to  their  own  House  to 
consider  the  question.  The  Chancellor  took  the  side  of 
Hastings.  Lord  Loughborough,  who  was  now  in  opposi- 
tion, supported  the  demand  of  the  managers.  The  division 
showed  which  way  the  inclination  of  the  tribunal  leaned. 
A  majority  of  near  three  to  one  decided  in  favour  of  th; 
course  for  which  Hastings  contended. 

10  When  the  Court  sat  again,  Mr.  Fox,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Grey,  opened  the  charge  respecting  Cheyte  Sing,  and 
several  days  were  spent  in  reading  papers  and  hearing 
witnesses.  The  next  article  was  that  relating  to  the  Prin- 
cesses of  Oude.  The  conduct  of  this  part  of  the  caslP^as 
intrusted  to  Sheridan.  The  curiosity  of  the  public  to  hear 
him  was  unbounded.  His  sparkling  and  highly  finished 
declamation  lasted  two  days  ;  but  the  Hall  was  crowded 
to  suffocation  during  the  whole  time.  It  was  said  that 
fifty  guineas  had  been  paid  for  a  single  ticket.     Sheridan, 

20  when  he  concluded,  contrived,  with  a  knowledge  of  stage- 
effect  which  his  father  might  have  envied,  to  sink  back, 
as  if  exhausted,  into  the  arms  of  Burke,  who  hugged  him 
with  the  energy  of  generous  admiration. 

June  was  now  far  advanced.     The  session  could  not  last 
much  longer  ;  and  the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  the 

\  impeachment  was  not  very  satisfactory.  There  were  twent5 
charges.  On  two  only  of  these  had  even  the  case  for  the 
prosecution  been  heard ;  and  it  was  now  a  year  since  Hast 
ings  had  been  admitted  to  bail. 
30  The  interest  taken  by  the  public  in  the  trial  was  great 
when  the  Court  began  to  sit,  and  rose  to  the  height  when 
Sheridan  spoke  on  the  charge  relating  to  the  Begums.  From 
that  time  the  excitement  went  down  fast.  The  spectacle 
had  lost  the  attraction  of  novelty.  The  great  displays  of 
rhetoric  were  over.  What  was  behind  was  not  of  a  nature 
to  entice  men  of  letters  from  their  books  in  the  morning,  or 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  117 

to  tempt  ladies  who  had  left  the  masquerade  at  two  to  be 
out  of  bed  before  eight.     There  remained  examinations  and 
cross-examinations.     There  remained  statements  of  accounts.       aj 
There  remained  the  reading  of  papers,  filled  with  words  un-    ' 
intelligible  to  English  ears,  with  lacs  and  crores,  zemindars  \\J 
and  aumils,  sunnuds  and  perwannahs,  jaghires  and  nuzzurs.    i-/\, 
There  remained  bickerings,  not  always  carried  on  with  the         \ 
best  taste  or  with  the  best  temper,  between  the  managers  of 
the  impeachment  and  the  counsel  for  the  defence,  particularly 
between  Mr.  Burke  and  Mr.  Law.     There  remained  the  end-  10 
less  marches  and  counter-marches  of  the  Peers  between  their 
House  and  the  Hall :  for  as  often  as  a  point  of  law  was  to  be 
discussed,  their  Lordships  retired  to  discuss  it  apart ;  and  the 
consequence  was,  as  a  peer  wittily   said,   that  the  Judges 
walked  and  the  trial  stood  still. 

It  is  to  be  added  that,  in  the  spring  of  1788  when  the  trial 
commenced,  no  important  question,  either  of  domestic  or 
foreign  policy,  excited  the  public  mind.  The  proceeding  in 
Westminster  Hall,  therefore,  naturally  attracted  most  of  the 
attention  of  Parliament  and  of  the  public.  It  was  the  one  20 
great  event  of  that  season.  But  in  the  following  year  the 
King's  illness,  the  debates  on  the  Regency,  the  expectation 
of  a  change  of  Ministry,  completely  diverted  public  attention 
from  Indian  affairs  ;  and  within  a  fortnight  after  George  the 
Third  had  returned  thanks  in  St.  Paul's  for  his  recovery,  the 
States-General  of  France  met  at  Versailles.  In  the  midst  of 
the  agitation  produced  by  these  events,  the  impeachment  was 
for  a  time  almost  forgotten. 

The  trial  in  the  Hall  went  on  languidly.  In  the  session  of 
1788,  when  the  proceedings  had  the  interest  of  novelty,  and  30 
when  the  Peers  had  little  other  business  before  them,  only 
thirty -five  days  were  given  to  the  impeachment.  In  1789, 
the  Regency  Bill  occupied  the  Upper  House  till  the  session 
was  far  advanced.  When  the  King  recovered  the  circuits 
were  beginning.  The  judges  left  town  ;  the  Lords  waited 
for  the  return  of  the  oracles  of  jurisprudence  ;  and  the  con- 


118  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

sequence  was  that  during  the  whole  year  only  seventeen  days 
were  given  to  the  case  of  Hastings.     It  was  clear  that  the 
matter  would  be  protracted  to  a  length  unprecedented  in  the  j 
annals  of  criminal  law. 

In  truth,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  impeachment,  though 
it  is  a  fine  ceremony,  and  though  it  may  have  been  useful  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  is  not  a  proceeding  from  which 
much  good  can  now  be  expected.  Whatever  confidence  may 
be  placed  in  the  decisions  of  the  Peers  on  an  appeal  arising 

10  out  of  ordinary  litigation,  it  is  certain  that  no  man  has  the 
least  confidence  in  their  impartiality,  when  a  great  public 
functionary,  charged  with  a  great  state  crime,  is  brought  to 
their  bar.  They  are  all  politicians.  There  is  hardly  one 
among  them  whose  vote  on  an  impeachment  may  not  be 
confidently  predicted  before  a  witness  has  been  examined ; 
and,  even  if  it  were  possible  to  rely  on  their  justice,  they 
would  still  be  quite  unfit  to  try  such  a  cause  as  that  of 
Hastings.  They  sit  only  during  half  the  year.  They  have 
to  transact  much  legislative  and  much  judicial  business.    The 

20  law-lords,  whose  advice  is  required  to  guide  the  unlearned 
majority,  are  employed  daily  in  administering  justice  else- 
where. It  is  impossible,  therefore,  that  during  a  busy  session, 
the  Upper  House  should  give  more  than  a  few  days  to  an 
impeachment.  To  expect  that  their  Lordships  would  give  up 
partridge-shooting,  in  order  to  bring  the  greatest  delinquent 
to  speedy  justice,  or  to  relieve  accused  innocence  by  speedy 
acquittal,  would  be  unreasonable  indeed.    A  well-constituted 

1     tribunal,  sitting  regularly  six  days  in  the  week,  and  nine 
hours  in  the  day,  would  have  brought  the  trial  of  Hastings 
30  to  a  close  in  less  than  three  months.     The  Lords  had  not 
finished  their  work  in  seven  years. 

The  result  ceased  to  be  matter  of  doubt,  from  the  time 
when  the  Lords  resolved  that  they  would  be  guided  by  the 
rules  of  evidence  whicli  are  received  ill  the  inferior  courts  of 
the  realm.  Those  rules,  it  is  well  known,  exclude  much 
information  which  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  determine  the 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  119 

conduct  of  any  reasonable  man,  in  the  most  important  trans- 
actions of  private  life.  Those  rules,  at  every  assizes,  save 
scores  of  culprits  whom  judges,  jury,  and  spectators,  firmly 
believe  to  be  guilty.  But  when  those  rules  were  rigidly 
applied  to  offences  committed  many  years  before,  at  the 
distance  of  many  thousand  miles,  conviction  was,  of  course, 
out  of  the  question.  We  do  not  blame  the  accused  and  his 
counsel  for  availing  themselves  of  every  legal  advantage  in 
order  to  obtain  an  acquittal.  But  it  is  clear  that  an  acquittal 
so  obtained  cannot  be  pleaded  in  bar  of  the  judgment  of  10 
history. 

Several  attempts  were  made  by  the  friends  of  Hastings  to  j_ '_ 

puTTaTstop  to  the  trial.  In  1789  they  proposed  a  vote  of 
censure  upon  Burke,  for  some  violent  language  which  he  had 
used  respecting  the  death  of  Nuncomar  and  the  connection  ^ 
between  Hastings  and  Impey.  Burke  was  then  unpopular 
in  the  last  degree  both  with  the  House  and  with  the  country. 
The  asperity  and  indecency  of  some  expressions  which  he 
had  used  during  the  debates  on  the  Regency  had  annoyed 
even  his  warmest  friends.  The  vote  of  censure  was  carried  ;  20 
and  those  who  had  moved  it  hoped  that  the  managers  would 
resign  in  disgust.  Burke  was  deeply  hurt.  But  his  zeal  for 
what  he  considered  as  the  cause  of  justice  and  mercy  tri- 
umphed over  his  personal  feelings.  He  received  the  censure 
of  the  House  with  dignity  and  meekness,  and  declared  that 
no  personal  mortification  or  humiliation  should  induce  him 
to  flinch  from  the  sacred  duty  which  he  had  undertaken. 

In  the  following  year  the  Parliament  was  dissolved,  and 
the  friends  of  Hastings  entertained  a  hope  that  the  new 
House  of  Commons  might  not  be  disposed  to  go  on  with  the  30 
impeachment.  They  began  by  maintaining  that  the  whole 
proceeding  was  terminated  by  the  dissolution.  Defeated  on 
this  point,  they  made  a  direct  motion  that  the  impeachment 
should  be  dropped  ;  but  they  were  defeated  by  the  combined 
forces  of  the  Government  and  the  Opposition.  It  was,  how- 
ever, resolved  that,  for  the  sake  of  expedition,  many  of  the 


120  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

articles  should  be  withdrawn.  In  truth,  had  not  some  such 
measure  been  adopted,  the  trial  would  have  lasted  till  the 
defendant  was  in  his  grave. 

At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1795,  the  decision  was  pro- 
nounced, near  eight  years  after  Hastings  had  been  brought 
by  the  Sergeant-at-arms  of  the  Commons  to  the  bar  of  the 
Lords.  On  the  last  day  of  this  great  procedure  the  public 
curiosity,  long  suspended,  seemed  to  be  revived.  Anxiety 
about  the  judgment  there  could  be  none  ;  for  it  had  been 

10  fully  ascertained  that  there  was  a  great  majority  for  the 
defendant.  Nevertheless  many  wished  to  see  the  pageant, 
and  the  Hall  was  as  much  crowded  as  on  the  first  day.  But 
those  who,  having  been  present  on  the  first  day,  now  bore  a 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  last,  were  few ;  and  most  of 
those  few  were  altered  men. 

As  Hastings  himself  said,  the  arraignment  had  taken  place 
before  one  generation,  and  the  judgment  was  pronounced  by 
another.  The  spectator  could  not  look  at  the  woolsack,  or  at 
the  red  benches  of  the  Peers,  or  at  the  green  benches  of  the 

20  Commons,  without  seeing  something  that  reminded  him  of 
the  instability  of  all  human  things,  of  the  instability  of 
power  and  fame  and  life,  of  the  more  lamentable  instability 
of  friendship.  The  great  seal  was  borne  before  Lord  Lough- 
borough who,  when  the  trial  commenced,  was  a  fierce  op- 
ponent of  Mr.  Pitt's  government,  and  who  was  now  a 
member  of  that  government,  while  Thurlow,  who  presided 
in  the  court  when  it  first  sat,  estranged  from  all  his  old 
allies,  sat  scowling  among  the  junior  barons.  Of  about  a 
hundred  and  sixty  nobles  who  walked  in  the  procession  on 

30  the  first  day,  sixty  had  been  laid  in  their  family  vaults.  Still 
more  affecting  must  have  been  the  sight  of  the  managers' 
box.  What  had  become  of  that  fair  fellowship,  so  closely 
bound  together  by  public  and  private  ties,  so  resplendent 
with  every  talent  and  accomplishment  ?  It  had  been  scat- 
tered by  calamities  more  bitter  than  the  bitterness  of  death. 
The  great  chiefs  were  still  living,  and  still  in  the  full  vigour 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  121 

of  their  genius.  But  their  friendship  was  at  an  end.  It  had 
been  violently  and  publicly  dissolved,  with  tears  and  stormy 
reproaches.  If  those  men,  once  so  dear  to  each  other,  were 
now  compelled  to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  managing  the 
impeachment,  they  met  as  strangers  whom  public  business 
had  brought  together,  and  behaved  to  each  other  with  cold 
and  distant  civility.  Burke  had  in  his  vortex  whirled 
away  Windham.  Fox  had  been  followed  by  Sheridan  and 
Grey. 

Only  twenty-nine  Peers  voted.  Of  these  only  six  found  10 
Hastings  guilty  on  the  charges  relating  to  Cheyte  Sing  and 
to  the  Begums.  On  other  charges,  the  majority  in  his 
favour  was  still  greater.  On  some,  he  was  unanimously 
absolved.  He  was  then  called  to  the  bar,  was  informed 
from  the  woolsack  that  the  Lords  had  acquitted  him, 
and  was  solemnly  discharged.  He  bowed  respectfully  and 
retired. 

We  have  said  that  the  decision  had  been  fully  expected. 
It  was  also  generally  approved.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  trial  there  had  been  a  strong  and  indeed  unreasonable  20 
feeling  against  Hastings.  At  the  close  of  the  trial  there  was 
a  feeling  equally  strong  and  equally  unreasonable  in  his 
favour.  One  cause  of  the  change  was,  no  doubt,  what  is 
commonly  called  the  fickleness  of  the  multitude,  but  what 
seems  to  us  to  be  merely  the  general  law  of  human  nature. 
Both  in  individuals  and  in  masses  violent  excitement  is 
always  followed  by  remission,  and  often  by  reaction.  We 
are  all  inclined  to  depreciate  whatever  we  have  overpraised, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  show  undue  indulgence  where  we 
have  shown  undue  rigour.  It  was  thus  in  the  case  of  30 
Hastings.  The  length  of  his  trial,  mojreover,  made  him  an 
object  of  compassion.  It  was  thought,  and  not  without 
reason,  that,  even  if  he  was  guilty,  he  was  still  an  ill-used 
man,  and  that  an  impeachment  of  eight  years  was  more  than 
a  sufficient  punishment.  It  was  also  felt  that,  though,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  criminal  law,  a  cTefendant  is  not  allowed  to 


122  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

set  off  his  good  actions  against  his  crimes,  a  great  political 
cause  should  be  tried  on  different  principles,  and  that  a  man 
who  had  governed  an  empire  during  thirteen  years  might 
have  done  some  very  reprehensible  things,  and  yet  might  be 
on  the  whole  deserving  of  rewards  and  honours  rather  than 
of  fine  and  imprisonment.  The  press,  an  instrument 
neglected  by  the  prosecutors,  was  used  by  Hastings  and  his 
friends  with  great  effect.  Every  ship,  too^  that  arrived  from 
Madras  or  Bengal,  brought  a  cuddy  full  of  his  admirers. 

10  Every  gentleman  from  India  spoke  of  the  late  Governor- 
General  as  having  deserved  better,  and  having  been  treated 
worse,  than  any  man  living.  The  effect  of  this  testimony 
unanimously  given  by  all  persons  who  knew  the  East,  was 
naturally  very  great.  Retired  members  of  the  Indian  ser- 
vices, civil  and  military,  were  settled  in  all  corners  of  the 
kingdom.  Each  of  them  was,  of  course,  in  his  own  little 
circle,  regarded  as  an  oracle  on  an  Indian  question ;  and  they 
were,  with  scarcely  one  exception,  the  zealous  advocates  of 
Hastings.     It  is  to  be  added,  that  the  numerous  addresses  to 

20  the  late  Governor-General,  which  his  friends  in  Bengal 
obtained  from  the  natives  and  transmitted  to  England,  made 
a  considerable  impression.  To  these  addresses  we  attach 
little  or  no  importance.  That  Hastings  was  beloved  by  the 
people  whom  he  governed  is  true ;  but  the  eulogies  of 
pundits,  zemindars,  Mahommedan  doctors,  do  not  prove  it  to 
be  true.  For  an  English  collector  or  judge  would  have  found 
it  easy  to  induce  any  native  who  could  write  to  sign  a 
panegyric  on  the  most  odious  ruler  that  ever  was  in  India. 
It  was  said  that  at  Benares,  the  very  place  at  which  the  acts 

30  set  forth  in  the  first  article  of  impeachment  had  been  com- 
mitted, the  natives  had  erected  a  temple  to  Hastings  ;  and 
this  story  excited  a  strong  sensation  in  England.  Burke's 
observations  on  the  apotheosis  were  admirable.  He  saw  no 
reason  for  astonishment,  he  said,  in  the  incident  which  had 
been  represented  as  so  striking.  He  knew  something  of  the 
mythology  of  the  Brahmins.     He  knew  that  as  they  wor- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  123 

shipped  some  gods  from  love,  so  they  worshipped  others 
from  fear.  He  knew  that  they  erected  shrines,  not  only  to 
the  benignant  deities  of  light  and  plenty,  but  also  to  the 
fiends  who  preside  over  small-pox  and  murder.  Nor  did  he 
at  all  dispute  the  claim  of  Mr.  Hastings  to  be  admitted  into 
such  a  Pantheon.  This  reply  has  always  struck  us  as  one  of 
the  finest  that  ever  was  made  in  Parliament.  It  is  a  grave  ^/ 
and  forcible  argument,  decorated  by  the  most  brilliant  wit  >t» 
and  fancy. 

Hastings  was,  however,  safe.  But  in  every  thing  except  10 
character,  he  would  have  been  far  better  off  if,  when  first 
impeached,  he  had  at  once  pleaded  guilty,  and  paid  a  fine  of 
fifty  thousand  pounds.  He  was  a  ruined  man.  The  legal 
expenses  of  his  defence  had  been  enormous.  The  expenses 
which  did  not  appear  in  his  attorney's  bill  were  perhaps 
larger  still.  Great  sums  had  been  paid  to  Major  Scott. 
Great  sums  had  been  laid  out  in  bribing  newspapers,  reward- 
ing pamphleteers,  and  circulating  tracts.  Burke,  so  early  as 
1790,  declared  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds  had  been  employed  in  corrupting  the  press.  It  20 
is  certain  that  no  controversial  weapon,  from  the  gravest 
reasoning  to  the  coarsest  ribaldry,  was  left  unemployed. 
Logan  defended  the  accused  governor  with  great  ability  in 
prose.  For  the  lovers  of  verse,  the  speeches  of  the  managers 
were  burlesqued  in  Simpkin's  letters.  It  is,  we  are  afraid, 
indisputable  that  Hastings  stooped  so  low  as  to  court  the  aid 
of  that  malignant  and  filthy  baboon  John  Williams,  who 
called  himself  Anthony  Pasquin.  It  was  necessary  to  subsi- 
dise such  allies  largely.  The  private  hoards  of  Mrs.  Hastings 
had  disappeared.  It  is  said  that  the  banker  to  whom  they  30 
had  been  entrusted  had  failed.  Still  if  Hastings  had  prac- 
tised strict  economy,  he  would,  after  all  his  losses,  have  had 
a  moderate  competence ;  but  in  the  management  of  his 
private  affairs  he  was  imprudent.  The  dearest  wish  of  his 
heart  had  always  been  to  regain  Daylesford.  At  length,  in 
the  very  year  in  which  his  trial  commenced,  the  wish  was 


124  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

accomplished  ;  and  the  domain,  alienated  more  than  seventy 
years  before,  returned  to  the  descendant  of  its  old  lords. 
But  the  manor  house  was  a  ruin  ;  and  the  grounds  round  it 
had,  during  many  years,  been  utterly  neglected.  Hastings 
proceeded  to  build,  to  plant,  to  form  a  sheet  of  water,  to 
excavate  a  grotto ;  and,  before  he  was  dismissed  from  the  bar 
of  the  House  of  Lords,  he  had  expended  more  than  forty 
thousand  pounds  in  adorning  his  seat. 

The  general  feeling  both  of  the  Directors  and  of  the  pro- 

10  prietors  of  the  East  India  Company  was  that  he  had  great 
claims  on  them,  that  his  services  to  them  had  been  eminent, 
and  that  his  misfortunes  had  been  the  effect  of  his  zeal  for 
their  interest.  His  friends  in  Leadenhall  Street  proposed  to 
reimburse  him  for  the  costs  of  his  trial,  and  to  settle  on  him 
an  annuity  of  five  thousand  pounds  a  year.  But  the  consent 
of  the  Board  of  Control  was  necessary  ;  and  at  the  head  of 
the  Board  of  Control  was  Mr.  Dundas,  who  had  himself  been 
a  party  to  the  impeachment,  who  had,  on  that  account,  been 
reviled  with  great  bitterness  by  the  adherents  of  Hastings, 

20  and  who,  therefore,  was  not  in  a  very  complying  mood.  He 
refused  to  consent  to  what  the  Directors  suggested.  The 
Directors  remonstrated.  A  long  controversy  followed. 
Hastings,  in  the  mean  time,  was  reduced  to  such  distress, 
that  he  could  hardly  pay  his  weekly  bills.  At  length  a 
compromise  was  made.  An  annuity  of  four  thousand  a  year 
was  settled  on  Hastings  ;  and  in  order  to  enable  him  to  meet 
pressing  demands,  he  was  to  receive  ten  years'  annuity  in 
advance.  The  Company  was  also  permitted  to  lend  him 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  to  be  repaid  by  instalments  without 

30  interest.  This  relief,  though  given  in  the  most  absurd 
manner,  was  sufficient  to  enable  the  retired  governor  to  live 
in  comfort,  and  even  in  luxury,  if  he  had  been  a  skilful 
manager.  But  he  was  careless  and  profuse,  and  was  more 
than  once  under  the  necessity  of  applying  to  the  Company 
for  assistance,  which  was  liberally  given. 

He  had  security  and  affluence,  but  not  the  power  and  dig- 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  125 

nity  which,  when  he  landed  from  India,  he  had  reason  to  expect. 
He  had  then  looked  forward  to  a  coronet,  a  red  riband,  a  seat  Vtw> 
at  the  Council  Board,  an  office  at  Whitehall.  He  was  then 
only  fifty-two,  and  might  hope  for  many  years  of  bodily  and 
mental  vigour.  The  case  was  widely  different  when  he  left 
the  bar  of  the  Lords.  He  was  now  too  old  a  man  to  turn  his 
mind  to  a  new  class  of  studies  and  duties.  He  had  no  chance 
of  receiving  any  mark  of  royal  favour  while  Mr.  Pitt  re- 
mained in  power ;  and,  when  Mr.  Pitt  retired,  Hastings  was 
approaching  his  seventieth  year.  10 

Once,  and  only  once,  after  his  acquittal,  he  interfered  in 
politics ;  and  that  interference  was  not  much  to  his  honour. 
In  1804  he  exerted  himself  strenuously  to  prevent  Mr. 
Addington,  against  whom  Fox  and  Pitt  had  combined,  from 
resigning  the  Treasury.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  a  man 
so  able  and  energetic  as  Hastings  can  have  thought  that, 
when  Bonaparte  was  at  Boulogne  with  a  great  army,  the 
defence  of  our  island  could  safely  be  intrusted  to  a  ministry 
which  did  not  contain  a  single  person  whom  flattery  could 
describe  as  a  great  statesman.  It  is  also  certain  that,  on  the  20 
important  question  which  had  raised  Mr.  Addington  to  power, 
and  on  which  he  differed  from  both  Fox  and  Pitt,  Hastings, 
as  might  have  been  expected,  agreed  with  Fox  and  Pitt,  and 
was  decidedly  opposed  to  Addington.  Religious  intolerance 
has  never  been  the  vice  of  the  Indian  service,  and  certainly 
was  not  the  vice  of  Hastings.  But  Mr.  Addington  had 
treated  him  with  marked  favour.  Fox  had  been  a  principal 
manager  of  the  impeachment.  To  Pitt  it  was  owing  that 
there  had  been  an  impeachment ;  and  Hastings,  we  fear,  was 
on  this  occasion  guided  by  personal  considerations,  rather  30 
than  by  a  regard  to  the  public  interest. 

The  last  twenty-four  years  of  his  life  were  chiefly  passed 
at  Daylesford.  He  amused  himself  with  embellishing  his 
grounds,  riding  fine  Arab  horses,  fattening  prize -cattle,  and 
trying  to  rear  Indian  animals  and  vegetables  in  England. 
He  sent  for  seeds  of  a  very  fine  custard -apple,  from  the 


126  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

garden  of  what  had  once  been  his  own  villa,  among  the 
green  hedgerows  of  Allipore.  He  tried  also  to  naturalise 
in  Worcestershire  the  delicious  leechee,  almost  the  only  fruit 
of  Bengal  which  deserves  to  be  regretted  even  amidst  the 
plenty  of  Covent  Garden.  The  Mogul  emperors,  in  the  time 
of  their  greatness,  had  in  vain  attempted  to  introduce  into 
Hindostan  the  goat  of  the  table-land  of  Thibet,  whose  down 
supplies  the  looms  of  Cashmere  with  the  materials  of  the 
finest  shawls.     Hastings  tried,  with  no  better  fortune,  to 

]  0  rear  a  breed  at  Daylesf ord ;  nor  does  he  seem  to  have 
succeeded  better  with  the  cattle  of  Bootan,  whose  tails  are 
in  high  esteem  as  the  best  fans  for  brushing  away  the 
mosquitoes. 

Literature  divided  his  attention  with  his  conservatories 
and  his  menagerie.  He  had  always  loved  books,  and  they 
were  now  necessary  to  him.  Though  not  a  poet,  in  any 
high  sense  of  the  word,  he  wrote  neat  and  polished  lines 
with  great  facility,  and  was  fond  of  exercising  this  talent. 
Indeed,  if  we  must  speak  out,  he  seems  to  have  been  more  of 

20  a  Trissotin  than  was  to  be  expected  from  the  powers  of  his 
mind,  and  from  the  great  part  which  he  had  played  in  life. 
We  are  assured  in  these  Memoirs  that  the  first  thing  which 
he  did  in  the  morning  was  to  compose  a  copy  of  verses. 
When  the  family  and  guests  assembled,  the  poem  made  its 
appearance  as  regularly  as  the  eggs  and  rolls  ;  and  Mr.  Gleig 
requires  us  to  believe  that,  if  from  any  accident  Hastings 
came  to  the  breakfast-table  without  one  of  his  charming 
performances  in  his  hand,  the  omission  was  felt  by  all  as 
a  grievous  disappointment.     Tastes  differ  widely.     For  our- 

30  selves  we  must  say  that,  however  good  the  breakfasts  at 
Daylesf  ord  may  have  been, — and  we  are  assured  that  the  tea 
was  of  the  most  aromatic  flavour,  and  that  neither  tongue 
nor  venison-pasty  was  wanting, — we  should  have  thought 
the  reckoning  high  if  we  had  been  forced  to  earn  our  repast 
by  listening  every  day  to  a  new  madrigal  or  sonnet  com- 
posed by  our  host.     We  are  glad,  however,  that  Mr.  Gleig 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  127 

has  preserved  this  little  feature  of  character,  though  we 
think  it  by  no  means  a  beauty.  It  is  good  to  be  often 
reminded  of  the  inconsistency  of  human  nature,  and  to  learn 
to  look  without  wonder  or  disgust  on  the  weaknesses  which 
are  found  in  the  strongest  minds.  Diouysius  in  old  times, 
Frederic  in  the  last  century,  with  capacity  and  vigour  equal 
to  the  conduct  of  the  greatest  affairs,  united  all  the  little 
vanities  and  affectations  of  provincial  blue-stockings.  These 
great  examples  may  console  the  admirers  of  Hastings  for  the 
affliction  of  seeing  him  reduced  to  the  level  of  the  Hayleys  10  n 
and  Se  wards.  /\  \^^ 

When  Hastings  had  passed  many  years  in  retirement,  and 
had  long  outlived  the  common  age  of  men,  he  again  became 
for  a  short  time  an  object  of  general  attention.  In  1813  the 
charter  of  the  East  India  Company  was  renewed  ;  and  much 
discussion  about  Indian  affairs  took  place  in  Parliament. 
It  was  determined  to  examine  witnesses  at  the  bar  of  the 
Commons  ;  and  Hastings  was  ordered  to  attend.  He  had 
appeared  at  that  bar  once  before.  It  was  when  he  read  his 
answer  to  the  charges  which  Burke  had  laid  on  the  table.  20 
Since  that  time  twenty -seven  years  had  elapsed  ;  public 
feeling  had  undergone  a  complete  change  ;  the  nation  had 
now  forgotten  his  faults,  and  remembered  only  his  services. 
The  reappearance,  too,  of  a  man  who  had  been  among  the 
most  distinguished  of  a  generation  that  had  passed  away, 
who  now  belonged  to  history,  and  who  seemed  to  have  risen 
from  the  dead,  could  not  but  produce  a  solemn  and  pathetic 
effect.  The  Commons  received  him  with  acclamations,  ordered 
a  chair  to  be  set  for  him,  and  when  he  retired,  rose  and  un- 
covered. There  were,  indeed,  a  few  who  did  not  sympathise  30 
with  the  general  feeling.  One  or  two  of  the  managers  of  the 
impeachment  were  present.  They  sate  in  the  same  seats 
which  they  had  occupied  when  they  had  been  thanked  for 
the  services  which  they  had  rendered  in  Westminster  Hall  : 
for,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  House,  a  member  who  has  been 
thanked  in  his  place  is  considered  as  having  a  right  always 


128  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

to  occupy  that  place.  These  gentlemen  were  not  disposed  to 
admit  that  they  had  employed  several  of  the  best  years  of 
their  lives  in  persecuting  an  innocent  man.  They  accordingly 
kept  their  seats,  and  pulled  their  hats  over  their  brows  ;  but 
the  exceptions  only  made  the  prevailing  enthusiasm  more 
remarkable.  The  Lords  received  the  old  man  with  similar 
tokens  of  respect.  The  University  of  Oxford  conferred  on 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  ;  and,  in  the  Sheldonian 
Theatre,  the  under-graduates  welcomed  him  with  tumultuous 

10  cheering. 

These  marks  of  public  esteem  were  soon  followed  by  marks 
of  royal  favour.  Hastings  was  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council, 
and  was  admitted  to  a  long  private  audience  of  the  Prince 
Regent,  who  treated  him  very  graciously.  When  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  and  the  King  of  Prussia  visited  England, 
Hastings  appeared  in  their  train  both  at  Oxford  and  in  the 
Guildhall  of  London,  and,  though  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of 
princes  and  great  warriors,  was  every  where  received  by  the 
public  with   marks   of    respect   and   admiration.      He  was 

20  presented  by  the  Prince  Regent  both  to  Alexander  and 
to  Frederic  William ;  and  his  Royal  Highness  went  so 
far  as  to  declare  in  public  that  honours  far  higher  than 
a  seat  in  the  Privy  Council  were  due,  and  would  soon 
be  paid,  to  the  man  who  had  saved  the  British  dominions 
in  Asia.  Hastings  now  confidently  expected  a  peerage ; 
but,  from  some  unexplained  cause,  he  was  again  dis- 
appointed. 

He  lived  about  four  years  longer,  in  the  enjoyment  of 
good  spirits,  of  faculties  not  impaired  to  any  painful  or 

30  degrading  extent,  and  of  health  such  as  is  rarely  enjoyed 
by  those  who  attain  such  an  age.  At  length,  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  August,  1818,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  his  age, 
he  met  death  with  the  same  tranquil  and  decorous  fortitude 
which  he  had  opposed  to  all  the  trials  of  his  various  and 
eventful  life. 

With  all  his  faults, — and  they  were  neither  few  nor  small, 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  129 

—only  one  cemetery  was  worthy  to  contain  his  remains.  In 
that  temple  of  silence  and  reconciliation  where  the  enmities 
of  twenty  generations  lie  buried,  in  the  Great  Abbey  which 
has  during  many  ages  afforded  a  quiet  resting-place  to  those 
whose  minds  and  bodies  have  been  shattered  by  the  conten- 
tions of  the  Great  Hall,  the  dust  of  the  illustrious  accused 
should  have  mingled  with  the  dust  of  the  illustrious  ac- 
cusers. This  was  not  to  be.  Yet  the  place  of  interment 
was  not  ill  chosen.  Behind  the  chancel  of  the  parish  church 
of  Daylesford,  in  earth  which  already  held  the  bones  of  ]0 
many  chiefs  of  the  house  of  Hastings,  was  laid  the  coffin  of 
the  greatest  man  who  has  ever  borne  that  ancient  and 
widely  extended  name.  On  that  very  spot  probably,  four- 
score years  before,  the  little  Warren,  meanly  clad  and 
scantily  fed,  had  played  with  the  children  of  ploughmen. 
Even  then  his  young  mind  had  revolved  plans  which  might 
be  called  romantic.  Yet,  however  romantic,  it  is  not  likely 
that  they  had  been  so  strange  as  the  truth.  Not  only  had 
the  poor  orphan  retrieved  the  fallen  fortunes  of  his  line. 
Not  only  had  he  repurchased  the  old  lands,  and  rebuilt  the  20 
old  dwelling.  He  had  preserved  and  extended  an  empire. 
He  had  founded  a  polity.  He  had  administered  government 
and  war  with  more  than  the  capacity  of  Richelieu.  He  had 
patronised  learning  with  the  judicious  liberality  of  Cosmo. 
He  had  been  attacked  by  the  most  formidable  combination 
of  enemies  that  ever  sought  the  destruction  of  a  single 
victim  ;  and  over  that  combination,  after  a  struggle  of  ten 
years,  he  had  triumphed.  He  had  at  length  gone  down  to 
his  grave  in  the  fulness  of  age,  in  peace,  after  so  many 
troubles,  in  honour,  after  so  much  obloquy.  30 

Those  who  look  on  his  character  without  favour  or  male- 
volence will  pronounce  that,  in  the  two  great  elements  of  all 
social  virtue,  in  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  and  in 
sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  others,  he  was  deficient.  His 
principles  were  somewhat  lax.  His  heart  was  somewhat 
hard.     But  while  we  cannot  with  truth  describe  him  either 

i 


130  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

as  a  righteous  or  as  a  merciful  ruler,  we  cannot  regard  with- 
out admiration  the  amplitude  and  fertility  of  his  intellect, 
his  rare  talents  for  command,  for  administration,  and  for 
controversy,  his  dauntless  courage,  his  honourable  poverty, 
his  fervent  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  state,  his  noble 
equanimity,  tried  by  both  extremes  of  fortune,  and  never 
disturbed  by  either. 


NOTES. 


P.  I.  1.  1.  This  book,  Gleig's  Life  of  Warren  Hastings,  3  vols., 
1841  :  Gleig,  George  Robert,  1796-1888,  entered  at  Oxford  in 
1811,  but  left  before  taking  his  degree  to  join  the  85th  Regiment 
with  which  he  served  in  the  Peninsular  and  American  Wars  ;  in 
1816  he  went  on  half -pay,  and  returned  to  Oxford.  Later  on  he 
was  ordained  a  clergyman,  and  ultimately  became  Chaplain- 
General  of  the  Forces.  Besides  the  Life  of  Warren  Hastings, 
he  was  author  of  Campaigns  of  the  British  Army  at  Washington 
and  New  Orleans,  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  Munro,  History  of  India, 
Lives  of  Military  Commanders,  various  Novels,  Essays,  etc. 
manufactured,  a  scornful  expression,  as  though  the  book  were 
merely  the  work  of  manual  labour  and  owed  nothing  to  intelli- 
gence or  literary  skill. 

I.  8.  undigested  correspondence,  a  mass  of  letters  printed 
without  any  such  arrangement  as  would  guide  the  reader  in 
following  the  narrative. 

1/  13.  a  bookmaker,  one  who  cannot  be  said  to  write  books,  but 
only  to  make  books  by  putting  together  material  supplied  to  him, 
a  sort  of  scissors  and  paste  operation  :  cp.  "  manufactured,"  1.  1. 

II.  19,  20.  is  neither  ...  Scott,  is  very  far  from  having  the  lite- 
rary power  possessed  by  either  Goldsmith  or  Scott.  Goldsmith's 
school  History  of  Greece  was  a  very  poor  piece  of  work,  under- 
taken not  because  he  had  deeply  studied  the  subject  or  as  a 
scholar  was  well  fitted  for  the  task,  but  because  his  poverty 
obliged  him  to  accept  any  employment  for  his  pen  that  was 
offered  him.  Scott's  Life  of  Napoleon  was  likewise  a  piece  of 
mere  drudgery  for  which  his  genius  was  but  poorly  adapted. 

11.  25-P.  2. 1.  2.  which  bear . . .  Man,  which  in  point  of  moral  doc- 
trine are  as  mnch  below  the  standard  of  Machiavelli's  "Prince"  as 
that  work  is  below  the  "Whole  Duty  of  Man."  The  Prince, 
Del  Principe,  was  a  treatise  on  King-craft  written  by  Nicolo 
Machiavelli,  the  celebrated  Florentine  statesman  and  historian, 
in  1542,  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  Lorenzo  de  Medici.     Of 

131 


132  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

its  character  Macaulay,  Essay  on  Machiavelli,  writes,  "It  ia 
indeed  scarcely  possible  for  any  person  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  history  and  literature  of  Italy  to  read,  without  horror  and 
amazement,  the  celebrated  treatise  which  has  brought  so  much 
obloquy  on  the  name  of  Machiavelli.  Such  a  display  of  wicked- 
ness, naked,  yet  not  ashamed,  such  cool,  judicious,  scientific 
atrocity  seem  rather  to  belong  to  a  fiend  than  to  the  most 
depraved  of  men.  Principles  which  the  most  hardened  ruffian 
would  scarcely  hint  to  his  most  trusted  accomplice,  or  avow, 
without  the  disguise  of  palliating  sophism,  even  to  his  own  mind, 
are  professed  without  the  slightest  circumlocution,  and  assumed 
as  the  fundamental  axioms  of  all  political  science."  Later  on  in 
the  same  Essay,  Macaulay  attributes  the  immorality  of  the  book 
rather  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  the  state  of  moral  feeling  among 
the  Italians  of  the  period,  than  to  any  peculiar  depravity  of 
character  and  intellect  on  the  part  of  its  author,  the  Whole 
Duty  of  Man,  a  well-known  treatise  on  the  subject,  which  has 
been  ascribed  on  strong  grounds  to  Richard  Allestre,  D.D., 
Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  Oxford,  and  Provost  of  Eton. 
Cowper  spoke  of  it  as  "  that  repository  of  self -righteousness  and 
Pharisaical  lumber "  ;  an  opinion  with  which  Southey  wholly 
disagreed. 

1.  6.  Furor  Biographicus,  the  mania  which  causes  biographers 
to  see  nothing  but  perfection  in  the  characters  of  those  whose 
lives  they  have  undertaken  to  write  :  what  Macaulay  elsewhere 
calls  the  lues  Bosivelliana,  because  in  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson 
the  disease  was  exhibited  in  its  most  prominent  form. 

I.  7.  the  goitre,  a  swelling  of  the  throat  prevalent  more  espe- 
cially in  mountainous  districts,  but  supposed  to  be  due  rather  to 
some  mineral  impregnation  of  the  drinking  water  than  to  the 
climate  ;  F.  goitre,  a  swelled  neck,  Lat.  guttur,  throat. 

II.  15,  6.  neither  is  it  that ...  1813,  see  below,  pp.  127,  8. 

11.  17-9.  to  represent ...  ridiculous,  i.e.  because  according  to 
Macaulay's  belief,  great  crimes  were  proved  against  him.  Yet, 
though  high-handed  acts  and  mistakes  of  policy  are  to  be  set  down 
to  the  account  of  Hastings,  the  dark  spots  on  his  fame,  which  Mac- 
aulay has  laboured  to  make  still  darker,  have  on  fuller  inquiry 
been  shown  to  be  set  upon  it  by  calumny  and  ignorance  of  facts, 
and  his  private  character  may  be  said  to  have  been  almost  stain- 
less. For  a  full  consideration  of  the  more  important  charges 
brought  against  him,  see  Appendixes. 

11.  25,  6.  the  splendour . . .  spots,  his  fame  was  so  bright  that 
even  many  spots  could  not  obscure  it.  The  image  is  from  spots 
on  the  sun. 

1.  27.  Mr.  Mill,  the  value  of  Mill's  History  of  India,  though 
in  some  respects  great,  is  much  marred  by  his  unfairness,  which 


NOTES.  133 

in  respect  to  Hastings  is  most  pronounced.  Sir  J.  Stephen  and 
Sir  J.  Strachey  convict  him  of  bad  faith,  inaccuracy,  and  mis- 
representation. 

1.  30.  a  daub  . . .  unnatural,  a  mere  mass  of  colour  that  blurred 
instead  of  revealing  the  characteristics  of  the  iveal  man  :  to  daub 
is  to  smear  over,  to  plaster :  insipid,  tasteless,  without  flavour, 
here = giving  no  taste  of  what  the  man  was. 

1.  32.  young  Lely,  Sir  Peter  Lely,  a  celebrated  portrait  painter, 
1617-1680,  born  in  Westphalia.  The  name  of  his  father,  a 
native  of  Holland,  was  Van  der  Waes,  and  Le  Lys  or  Lely,  a 
nickname  given  to  him,  was  adopted  by  his  son.  In  1641  he 
came  to  England  where  he  was  patronized  successively  by 
Charles  I.,  Cromwell,  and  Charles  II.,  the  last  of  whom 
appointed  him  state -painter,  and  conferred  knighthood  upon 
him.  Originally  a  painter  of  historical  subjects  and  landscapes, 
he  afterwards  became  famous  as  a  portrait  painter  of  the  school 
of  Vandyck.  His  most  famous  work  is  a  collection  of  portraits 
of  the  ladies  of  Charles  the  Second's  Court.  Cromwell  was 
painted  by  him  about  1650. 

P.  3.  1.  1.  regular  features,  here  used  contemptuously  of  com- 
mon-place features  that  showed  no  distinctive  traits  of  character, 
though  want  of  individuality  is  not  necessarily  involved  in 
regularity  of  feature. 

1.  2.  curl-pated  minions,  effeminate  courtiers  who  wore  their 
hair  long  and  paid  great  attention  to  the  curling  of  their  locks, 
as  contrasted  with  the  "  Roundheads,"  the  Puritan  followers  of 
Cromwell,  who  in  their  austerity  cut  their  hair  close.  The 
love-locks,  afterwards  so  fashionable  and  so  often  the  subject  of 
ridicule  and  satire,  were  introduced  from  France  by  Charles  the 
First,  minion,  a  favourite  flatterer  ;  F.  mignon,  adjective,  dainty, 
neat,  spruce. 

1.  3.  should  go  forth,  sc.  to  the  world. 

I.  6.  policy,  statesmanship. 

II.  10,  1.  Warren  Hastings  ...  race,  Hastings  derived  his  Chris- 
tian name  from  his  mother,  Hester  Warren,  daughter  of  a 
gentleman  who  owned  a  small  estate  in  Gloucestershire.  The 
taunt  which  Burke  at  the  impeachment  of  Hastings  flung  at  him 
of  his  being  of  "low,  obscure,  and  vulgar  origin,"  is  supposed  to 
have  been  due  to  the  scandalous  malignity  of  Francis.  But,  says 
Trotter,  Warren  Hastings,  p.  9,  "  Had  the  charge  been  never  so 
well  founded,  it  could  have  taken  nothing  from  the  honour  due 
to  one  whose  public  record  needed  no  blazonry  from  the  College 
of  Heralds." 

1.  12.  the  great  Danish  sea-king,  Hasting,  the  Danish  leader 
who  invaded  England  in  893.  See  Green,  A  Short  History  of 
the  English  People,  p.  53. 


134  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

11.  17,  8.  One  branch  ...  Pembroke,  this  was  Laurence  Hastings, 
son  of  John,  third  Baron  Hastings.  He  served  with  Edward 
the  Third  in  Flanders,  and  was,  in  1339,  created  Earl  Palatine  of 
Pembroke,  as  representative  of  his  great-uncle,  Aymer  de 
Valence,  who  died  in  1324. 

11.  18-21.  From  another  ...  historians,  William,  Lord  Hastings, 
1430-1483,  was  for  his  services  in  the  Civil  Wars  rewarded  by 
Edward  the  Fourth,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  with  various 
valuable  posts,  among  them  that  of  lord  chamberlain  of  the 
royal  household.  Sir  Thomas  More  gives  an  account  of  the 
charge  of  treason  brought  against  him  by  Gloucester,  and  of  his 
execution  at  the  Tower,  and  this  account  has  been  dramatized  by 
Shakespeare  in  his  Richard  the  Third. 

11.  22-4.  which,  after  long  ...  romance.  When,  by  the  death 
of  Francis,  tenth  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  in  1789,  the  Earldom  of 
Huntingdon  became  dormant,  an  eccentric  clergyman,  Theophilus 
Henry  Hastings,  assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  to 
which  he  was  entitled  by  his  descent  from  Francis,  the  second 
Earl,  but  took  no  steps  to  prove  his  right.  On  his  death,  in  1804, 
his  nephew,  Hans  Francis  Hastings,  made  some  attempt  to  in- 
vestigate his  claim  to  the  Earldom,  but  was  soon  compelled  to 
abandon  it  for  want  of  money.  In  1817  his  friend,  Henry  Nugent 
Bell,  a  legal  antiquary,  took  the  case  up,  and  it  was  mainly  owing 
to  his  exertions  that  Hans  Francis  established  his  claim.  Bell 
"  published  a  detailed  account  of  the  proceedings  in  the  '  Hunt- 
ingdon Peerage/  and  the  narrative  of  his  various  adventures  ... 
displays  a  suspicious  luxuriance  of  imagination  not  altogether 
in  keeping  with  what  professed  to  be  a  grave  genealogical 
treatise"  ...  {Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.). 

1.  25.  The  lords  of  the  manor.  "The  lord  [of  a  manor]  was 
usually  a  baron,  or  other  person  of  power  and  consequence,  to 
whom  had  been  granted  an  estate  in  fee  simple  in  a  tract  of  land. 
Of  this  land  he  retained  as  much  as  was  necessary  for  his  own 
use,  as  his  own  demesne,  and  usually  built  upon  it  a  mansion  or 
manor  house"  (Williams,  Law  of  Real  Property,  p.  107,  6th  ed.). 

I.  29.  not  ennobled,  not,  like  some  of  its  branches,  numbering 
among  its  members  barons  or  earls  :  highly  considered,  held  in 
esteem  as  of  great  local  importance. 

II.  32,  3.  sent  his  plate  ...  Oxford,  sent  the  silver  utensils  of  his 
household  to  be  coined  into  money  for  the  benefit  of  the  King, 
who  at  that  time  had  set  up  his  Court  at  Oxford  :  plate,  origi- 
nally meaning  a  thin  piece  of  metal,  flat  dish  (F.  plat,  flat,  from 
Greek  irXa/rvs,  broad),  was  later  used  especially  of  silver  plates, 
dishes,  candlesticks,  etc.,  in  domestic  use. 

11.  35,  6.  was  glad  ...  Lenthal,  this  member  of  the  family  was 
John   Hastings,  who   "  was  fain  at  last  to  make  over  all  his 


NOTES.  135 

Yelford  lands  to  Speaker  Lenthall  [who  presided  at  the  trial 
of  Charles  the  First],  and  bury  himself  in  the  old  decayed  manor- 
house  at  Daylesford  "  (Trotter,  p.  8). 

P.  4,  1.  3.  a  merchant  of  London,  Mr.  Jacob  Knight. 

11.  5,  6.  had  presented  ...  parish.  "An  advowson  is  a  per- 
petual right  of  presentation  to  an  ecclesiastical  benefice.  The 
owner  of  the  advowson  is  termed  the  patron  of  the  benefice  ... 
As  patron  he  simply  enjoys  a  right  of  nomination  from  time  to 
time,  as  the  living  becomes  vacant.  And  this  right  he  exercises 
by  a  presentation  to  the  bishop  of  some  duly  qualified  clerk  or 
clergyman,  whom  the  bishop  is  accordingly  bound  to  institute  to 
the  benefice  and  to  cause  him  to  be  inducted  into  it "  (Williams, 
The  Law  of  Real  Property,  p.  307,  6th  ed.).  A  rectory  differs 
from  a  vicarage  in  that  the  rector  receives  the  greater  and  the 
vicar  only  the  lesser  tithes.  The  origin  of  this  difference  is  that 
when  the  advowsons  of  rectories  were  in  the  hands  of  spiritual 
patrons,  they  considered  themselves  to  be  the  most  fit  persons  to 
be  rectors  of  the  parish,  so  far  as  the  receipt  of  tithes  and  other 
profits  of  the  rectory  were  concerned,  and  left  the  duties  of  the 
cure  to  be  performed  by  some  poor  priest  as  their  vicar  or  deputy. 

1.  10.  tithes,  a  tithe  (A.S.  teofta,  tenth)  was  the  tenth  part  of 
the  produce  of  the  land  offered  to  the  clergy.  Originally  the 
payment  was  made  in  kind,  but  this  has  since  been  commuted  for 
a  payment  in  money  made  according  to  a  periodical  valuation  of 
the  land. 

1.  12.  a  place  in  the  Customs,  a  situation  as  clerk  in  the 
Customs'  Office  in  London. 

I.  13.  Pynaston,  or  "Penyston,"  as  it  was  more  correctly 
spelt.  Macaulay 's  words  ■ '  an  idle  worthless  boy  "  are  based  on 
Gleig's  assertions ;  but  when  Penyston  married  he  was  six  and 
twenty  years  of  age. 

II.  14,  5.  died  ...  Indies,  that  he  went  abroad  after  his  wife's 
death  is  probably  true,  though  even  this  is  not  certain  ;  that  he 
went  to  the  West  Indies  is  mere  hearsay. 

11.  18,  9.  Warren  ...  1732,  according  to  Keene  {Diet,  of  Nat. 
Biog. )  and  Trotter,  at  Churchill  in  Oxfordshire,  a  few  miles  from 
Daylesford  in  Worcestershire  ;  according  to  Lyall,  at  Daylesford 
itself.  Penyston  Hastings  lived  at  Churchill,  and  on  the  front 
of  his  house  there,  which  was  by  no  means  the  house  of  one  so 
poor  as  Gleig  represents  him,  Earl  Ducie  erected  a  tablet  stating 
that  Warrren  was  born  there,  but  even  this  is  not  certain. 

1.  20.  his  distressed  grandfather,  his  paternal  grandfather,  the 
rector  above-mentioned. 

1.  28.  how  kindly  ...  book,  with  what  interest  and  eagerness  he 
learnt  his  lessons. 


136  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  33.  their  splendid  housekeeping,  the  profuse  hospitality  for 
which  they  were  celebrated. 

P.  5,  11.  4,  5.  He  would  ...  Daylesford,  he  was  determined  by 
recovering  the  property  of  his  ancestors  to  recover  also  the  right 
to  be  known  as  Hastings  of  Daylesford. 

1.  12.  chequered,  varied  :  "the  term  cheeky  in  heraldry,"  says 
Skeat,  "means  that  the  shield  is  marked  out  into  squares  like  a 
chess-board.  To  checker  in  like  manner  is  *  to  mark  out  like  a 
chess-board ' ;  hence  to  mark  with  cross-lines ;  and  generally  to 
variegate  ...  —  O.  F.  eschequier,  a  chess-board  ;  also  an  exchequer 
— 0.  F.  eschec,  check  (at  chess)  ! " 

1.  18.  Newington,  a  small  town  in  Kent  about  forty  miles  from 
London. 

1.  20.  seminary,  place  of  education :  originally  a  seed  garden, 
hence  a  place  in  which  learning  was  sown.  In  former  days 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  frequently  spoken  of  as  "  seminaries 
of  sound  learning." 

1.  21.  Westminster  School,  founded  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  richly 
endowed  by  Elizabeth  in  1560. 

1.  22.  Vinny  Bourne,  Vincent  Bourne,  chiefly  renowned  for  the 
elegance  of  his  Latin  poems,  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, who  on  leaving  college  became  a  Master  in  Westminster 
School,  where  he  remained  till  his  death.  His  Latin  poems  were 
greatly  admired  by  Lamb. 

1.  23.  Churchill,  Charles,  1731-64,  chiefly  famous  for  his 
vigorous  satires,  chief  among  which  were  The  Bosciad,  The 
Prophecy  of  Famine,  The  Duellist,  The  Conference,  The  Author, 
The  Candidate;  a  friend  of  Garrick's  and  a  great  admirer  of 
Wilkes.  Colman,  George,  1732-1794,  author  of  odes,  prologues, 
epilogues,  introductions,  essays,  and  especially  dramatic  works, 
among  which  were  Polly  Honeycombe,  The  Jealous  Wife,  The 
Deuce  is  in  him,  as  well  as  adaptations  of  Shakespeare  and  of 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

1.  24.  Lloyd,  Robert,  an  inferior  poet ;  Cumberland,  Richard, 
1732-1811,  a  voluminous  dramatist,  author  of  The  Brothers,  The 
Fashionable  Lover,  The  Jew,  The  Wheel  of  Fortune,  The  West 
Indian,  etc.,  etc.  Also  of  novels,  memoirs,  odes,  translations, 
and  controversial  works ;  Cowper,  William,  the  well-known 
poet. 

1.  30.  the  shy  and  secluded  poet.  Macaulay  in  his  Essay  on 
Moore' 's  Life  of  Byron  speaks  of  Cowper  as  "the  gentle,  shy, 
melancholy  Calvinist,  whose  spirit  had  been  broken  by  fagging  at 
school — who  had  not  courage  to  earn  a  livelihood  by  reading  the 
titles  of  bills  in  the  House  of  Lords — and  whose  favourite  associ- 
ates were  a  blind  lady  and  an  evangelical  clergyman." 


NOTES.  137 

!.  33.  played  in  the  cloister,  the  celebrated  Cloisters  of  West- 
minster Abbey,  adjoining  the  school,  are  of  different  dates,  from 
the  time  of  the  Confessor  to  that  of  Edward  the  Third. 

11.  33-5.  refused  to  believe  . . .  wrong,  Cowper's  lines  on  the 
occasion  were  as  follows  : — 

"  Hastings  !  I  knew  thee  young,  and  of  a  mind, 
While  young,  humane,  conversable,  and  kind  ; 
Nor  can  I  well  believe  thee — gentle  then — 
Now  grown  a  villain,  and  the  worst  of  men  ; 
But  rather  some  suspect,  who  have  oppress'd 
And  worried  thee,  as  not  themselves  the  best." 

I.  36.  among  ...  Ouse,  in  1767  Cowper  removed  from  Hunting- 
don to  Olney,  a  village  on  the  Ouse,  in  the  north  of  Buckingham- 
shire, where  he  remained  till  his  death  in  1800.  Macaulay  is 
here  referring  to  Cowper's  poem  entitled  "  The  Dog  and  the 
Lily";  in  which  are  the  lines,  "It  was  the  time  when  Ouse 
displayed  His  lilies  newly  blown  ;  Their  beauties  I  intent  sur- 
vey'd,  And  one  I  wished  my  own. " 

P.  6,  1.  2.  His  spirit  . . .  tried,  by  the  religious  doubts  and  per- 
plexities by  which  he  was  assailed  during  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life  and  which  frequently  impelled  him  with  the  desire  to 
take  his  own  life.  The  temptations  which  Macaulay  goes  on  to 
mention  are  such  as  had  assailed  Hastings. 

II.  7,  8.  Firmly ...  depravity,  though  in  theory  he  firmly  held 
the  Calvinistic  doctrine  that  all  men  are  desperately  wicked. 

11.  8-11.  his  habits  ...  dominion,  his  own  peaceful  and  innocent 
manner  of  life  made  it  impossible  to  conceive  that  anyone  of  a 
nature  so  noble  as  Hastings  could  become  capable  of  such  crimes 
as  were  imputed  to  him. 

11.  14-8.  But,  we  think ...  prank,  this  guess  of  Macaulay's  has 
no  justification  in  anything  we  know  of  Impey's  later  life.  He 
may  have  joined  Hastings  in  schoolboy  pranks,  and  perhaps  then 
as  afterwards  have  yielded  to  the  stronger  will  of  his  school- 
fellow, but  that  he  had  to  be  bribed  to  take  his  share  in  them  is 
a  purely  gratuitous  assumption.  Macaulay,  following  Burke  and 
Mill,  had  made  up  his  mind  that  bribery  induced  Impey  to  serve 
Hastings  in  India,  and  he  here  prepares  the  way  for  his  account 
of  the  transaction  by  making  an  ungenerous  insinuation  :  fag  is 
here  used  as  an  equivalent  to  'tool,'  instrument  ;  the  fag,  in 
ordinary  school  language,  is  a  younger  boy  employed  by  his 
elders  in  semi-menial  duties,  such  as  running  on  errands,  brush- 
ing clothes,  cooking  food,  etc. ;  and  as  Hastings  and  Impey  were 
of  the  same  age  and  in  the  same  form,  there  could  have  been  no 
such  relation  between  the  two. 

1.  20.  boatman,  ■  oar,'  as  we  should  now  say. 


138  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  21.  the  foundation,  in  an  endowed  school  those  boys  are  said 
to  be  'on  the  foundation,'  or  to  be  'foundationers,'  who  during 
their  school  and  college  days  are  supported  wholly  or  partly  from 
the  revenues  by  which  the  school  was  founded,  and  the  expres- 
sion here  is  equivalent  to  a  foundation  scholarship,  i.  e.  a  scholar- 
ship paid  to  a  student  while  at  school. 

1.  22.  the  dormitory,  famous  nowadays  as  the  room  in  which 
the  Westminster  Play,  generally  one  of  Terence  or  Plautus,  is 
performed  at  the  end  of  each  year. 

I.  24.  a  studentship,  a  term  peculiar  to  Christ  Church  College, 
Oxford,  and  answering  to  a  scholarship  at  other  colleges. 

II.  33,  4.  He  even  ...  Oxford,  this  statement  is  made  by  Hast- 
ings himself  in  an  autobiography  which  he  began  when  an  old 
man,  but  wearied  of  after  writing  four  pages. 

11.  35,  6.  He  thought ...  sufficient,  by  hexameters  and  penta- 
meters Macaulay  means  composition  in  Latin  verse  generally,  the 
two  more  ordinary  forms  of  such  composition  being  the  heroic 
verse  of  six  feet  and  the  elegiac  couplet  of  six  and  five  feet  alter- 
nately. In  using  the  word  wasted,  Mr.  Chiswick's  opinion,  not 
Macaulay's,  is  expressed. 

P.  7,  1.  1.  a  writership,  the  older  term  for  a  civil  servant  of 
the  company  was  ■  writer, '  such  servants  being  in  its  earlier  days 
clerks  in  the  factories,  with  none  of  the  revenue  or  magisterial 
duties  which  they  were  so  soon  to  acquire. 

11.  8-10.  he  sailed  ...  following,  the  voyage  even  for  those  days 
was  unusually  long,  but  it  often  lasted  many  months.  Sir  C. 
Lawson,  in  his  monograph  on  Hastings  in  the  Journal  of  Indian 
Art,  etc.,  says  he  arrived  in  January,  1750. 

1.  12.  Fort  William,  the  new  fort  which  Clive  began  to  build  in 
1757.  The  phrase  is  still  retained  as  the  official  designation  of 
the  Government  of  Calcutta,  as  is  Fort  St.  George  of  Madras. 

I.  14.  Dupleix,  Joseph,  the  celebrated  Frenchman,  who  so 
distinguished  himself  in  the  service  of  the  French  East  India 
Company  that  he  was  in  1742  appointed  governor  of  Pondi- 
cherry.  Had  his  ambitious  designs  of  conquest  been  supported 
by  his  government  at  home,  the  struggle  between  the  French 
and  the  English  for  empire  in  India  would  have  been  greatly 
prolonged,  and  by  some  it  is  thought  might  have  terminated 
differently.     He  died  in  disgrace  and  poverty. 

II.  14-6.  had  transformed ...  generals,  by  compelling  them  to 
play  those  parts  in  resisting  the  French  designs. 

1.  16.  The  war  of  the  succession,  in  1748,  on  the  death  of  the 
Nizam  ul  Mulk,  Viceroy  of  the  Dakhan,  Chanda  Sahib,  son-in-law 
of  a  former  Nawab  of  the  Karnatak,  disputed  the  title  of  Anwar 
ud  din,  then  in  possession  of  that  province.     Joining  with  Mir- 


NOTES.  139 

zafar  Jang,  a  grandson  of  the  Nizam,  who  had  set  up  a  claim  to 
the  Viceroyalty,  and  applying  to  the  French  for  assistance,  he 
attacked,  routed,  and  killed  Anwar  ud  din,  and  made  himself 
master  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Karnatak.  Clive,  who  had 
come  out  as  a  '  writer,'  but  had  turned  himself  into  a  soldier,  was 
deputed  by  the  Madras  Government  to  resist  the  combination  by 
an  attack  upon  Arcot,  the  capital  of  the  Karnatak,  and  the  result 
was  that  after  various  sieges  and  engagements  Chanda  Sahib  lost 
all  his  possessions,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Marathas,  by  whom 
he  was  put  to  death  ;  while  the  French  power  in  Southern  India 
was  effectually  broken. 

11.  27-30.  the  prince  . . .  Bahar,  this  was  Ali  Varcli  Khan,  the 
Nawab  of  Bengal,  whose  ' '  firm  government  had  maintained  a 
barrier  against  invasion,  and  had  kept  peace  within  his  borders  " 
(Lyall).  _ 

P.  8,  1.  4.  declared ...  English,  on  war  breaking  out  in  Europe 
between  the  French  and  English,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the 
Company  to  fortify  Calcutta.  The  Nawab  ordered  the  work  to 
be  stopped,  but  his  orders  were  disregarded,  and  he  at  once 
marched  on  Kasimbazar. 

1.  8.  the  Dutch  Company,  which  first  turned  their  attention  to 
the  Eastern  trade  about  1580,  and  at  one  time  had  settlements 
in  India  at  Chinsurah,  Negapatanam,  Sadras,  Pulicat,  and 
Bimlipatanam. 

1.  11.  the  Black  Hole,  this  tragedy  took  place  on  the  night  of 
the  20th  of  June,  1756,  a  hundred  and  forty-six  English  men  and 
women  being  shut  up  in  a  small  guard-room  about  twenty  feet 
long  by  fourteen  wide,  and  having  only  two  small  windows 
strongly  barred.  In  the  morning  twenty-two  men  and  one 
woman  came  out  alive.  For  a  graphic  account  of  the  terrible 
sufferings  undergone,  see  Macaulay's  Essay  on  Clive,  or  Trotter's 
Warren  Hastings,  pp.  19,  20. 

1.  15.  Fulda,  more  properly  'Falta,'  a  village  and  Dutch 
station  near  the  confluence  of  the  Hugli  with  the  Damodar. 

I.  19.  at  large,  not  in  actual  confinement,  but  allowed  freedom 
of  exercise  within  certain  limits. 

II.  21-3.  The  treason ...  progress,  the  reference  is  to  a  con- 
spiracy formed  against  him  by  Rae  Dalab,  his  minister  of 
finance  ;  Mir  Jafar,  his  commander-in-chief ;  and  Jagat  Seth, 
the  richest  banker  in  India.  The  object  of  the  confederates  was 
to  place  Mir  Jafar  on  the  throne.  Clive,  on  reaching  Calcutta, 
determined  to  give  support  to  the  project,  and  sent  ietters  of 
the  most  soothing  character  to  Suraja  Daula  to  put  him  off  his 
guard.  When  all  was  ready  for  the  attack,  Clive  wrote  to  the 
Nawab  in  a  very  different  tone,  setting  forth  all  the  wrongs 
which  the  British  had  suffered  at  his  hands,  declaring  his  intention 


140  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

to  submit  the  points  in  dispute  between  them  to  Mir  Jafar  and 
the  Hindu  grandees  at  his  court,  and  announcing  that  he  and  his 
troops  would  do  themselves  the  honour  of  waiting  on  his  Highness. 
Suraja  Daula  instantly  assembled  his  whole  force  and  marched 
to  encounter  the  English.  The  result  was  the  battle  of  Plassey, 
in  which,  with  a  force  of  three  thousand  men  (one  thousand  of 
whom  were  English),  Clive  utterly  routed  the  Nawab's  army  of 
sixty  thousand  of  all  arms. 

P.  9,  1.  5.  a  member  of  Council,  as  a  member  of  Council  in 
these  early  times  was  something  very  different  from  such  an 
official  at  the  present  day,  it  may  be  as  well  to  give  some  account 
of  his  status  when  Hastings  received  the  appointment ;  and,  as 
collateral  to  the  matter,  a  statement  of  the  salaries  paid  to  the 
different  ranks  of  the  Company's  servants.  "In  1750  the  Com- 
pany's settlements,"  says  Trotter,  p.  13,  "in  Bengal,  Bombay, 
and  Madras,  were  governed  each  by  a  President  and  a  Council  of 
senior  merchants.  The  President's  salary  was  then  but  £300  a 
year,  while  those  of  his  Councillors  ranged  from  £40  to  £100. 
The  senior  merchants  received  £40,  junior  merchants  £30,  factors 
£15,  and  writers  only  £5  a  year.  ...  But  the  Company's  servants 
were  permitted  to  eke  out  their  pay  with  the  profits  of  private 
trade. " 

11.  7-10.  an  interval ...  government,  for  this  period  "the  only 
excuse  to  be  made  is  that  it  is  very  short,  and  so  crowded  with 
strange  incidents,  perilous  adventures,  and  precipitate  changes, 
that  one  cannot  wonder  if  the  actors  in  such  a  drama  lost  their 
heads.  In  June,  1756,  the  Company  had  been  turned  out  of 
Fort  William  and  all  their  up-country  factories  in  Bengal ;  part 
of  their  establishment  was  in  the  Black  Hole ;  the  rest,  half- 
starved,  upon  an  island  in  the  Hooghly  river.  Within  twelve 
months  the  Company  were  virtually  lords  of  Bengal,  and  all  the 
treasures  of  the  state  and  resources  of  the  provinces  were  at 
their  absolute  disposal ;  the  French  had  lost  all  their  settlements ; 
their  trade,  up  to  that  time  considerable,  was  annihilated,  and  the 
export  business  of  the  country  had  become  an  English  monopoly. 
A  few  years  later  the  Company  found  themselves  de  facto  rulers 
of  Behar,  the  great  province  that  extends  from  Bengal  proper 
westward  up  to  the  Ganges  at  Benares,  four  hundred  miles  from 
Calcutta.  They  had  come  for  commerce  and  had  found  con- 
quest; they  had  been  compelled  to  choose  between  their  own 
expulsion  and  the  overthrow  of  the  native  government ;  they 
fought  for  their  own  hand,  and  won  so  easily  that  they  found 
the  whole  power  and  responsibility  of  administration  thrust 
upon  them  without  warning,  experience,  or  time  for  prepara- 
tion "  (Lyall,  pp.  19,  20). 

1.  18.  The  master  caste,  the  English,  the  dominant  class,  as 
Macaulay  terms  them  just  below. 


NOTES.  141 

1.  35.  the  enlarged  policy,  the  larger  and  more  statesmanlike 
idea  of  government. 

P.  io.  1.  10.  rotten  boroughs,  a  term  used  of  boroughs  where 
the  number  of  voters  was  very  small,  in  some  of  them  because 
they  had  decayed  in  size  since  members  were  first  given  them,  in 
others  because  they  had  been  allowed  members  in  order  that  they 
might  be  under  the  influence  of  the  Crown.  The  power  of  nomi- 
nating these  members  was  usually  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown  or 
of  some  neighbouring  landlord,  or  was  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 
At  one  period  it  is  asserted  that  two  hundred  members  of  Parlia- 
ment were  returned  by  places  with  less  than  a  hundred  electors, 
and  that  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  members  were  nominated 
by  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  patrons.  Macaulay  is  probably 
alluding  to  Clive's  candidature  in  1754  at  the  borough  of  St. 
Michael,  "one  of  those  wretched  Cornish  boroughs,"  as  he  says 
in  his  Essay  on  Olive,  "  which  were  swept  away  by  the  Reform 
Act  in  1832." 

I.  11.  St.  James's  Square,  at  that  time  a  locality  even  more 
fashionable  than  at  present. 

II.  17,  8.  It  is  certain  ...  poor,  so  poor,  indeed,  that  " Raymond, 
the  French  translator  of  the  Sair  Matdkharin,  says  he  was  obliged 
to  borrow  money  from  an  Armenian  merchant  for  his  expenses  in 
going  home  "  (Lyall,  p.  19). 

1.  29.  many  lamentable  blemishes,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
this  is  said  under  the  wholly  untenable  belief  that  his  conduct  as 
regards  Nand  Kumar,  the  Rohilla  War,  Chait  Sing,  and  the 
Begams,  was  as  bad  as  the  malice  of  his  enemies  represented  it. 

1.  35.  squeamish,  over-particular,  unnecessarily  delicate. 

P.  ii,  1.  2.  buccaneer,  "originally  one  who  dries  and  smokes 
flesh  on  a  boucan  after  the  manner  of  the  Indians.  The  name 
was  first  given  to  the  French  hunters  of  St.  Domingo,  who 
prepared  the  flesh  of  the  wild  oxen  and  boars  in  this  way. 
2.  (From  the  habits  which  these  subsequently  assumed:)  A 
name  given  to  piratical  rovers  who  formerly  infested  the  Spanish 
coasts  in  America.  3.  By  extension :  A  sea-rover  who  makes 
hostile  attacks  upon  the  coast,  a  filibuster.  F.  boucaner,  to  dry 
meat  on  a  barbecue  "  (Murray,  Encj.  Diet. ).  a  galleon,  originally 
a  Spanish  word  for  an  armed  ship  of  large  burden,  then  especi- 
ally a  large  vessel  containing  treasure,  such  as  ingots  of  silver, 
or  rich  merchandise. 

I.  18.  liberal  studies,  the  study  of  such  subjects  as  language, 
literature,  art,  etc.,  which  enlarge  and  elevate  a  man's  mind. 

II.  27,  8.  which  lie  ...  track,  which  are  not  to  be  met  with  in 
the  beaten  path  along  which  men  ordinarily  walk. 

1.  34.  the  revival  of  letters,  a  phrase  in  common  use  for  the 


142  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

revival  of  learned  studies,  about  1450,  after  their  eclipse  during 
the  *  Dark  Ages ' ;  also  sometimes  called  the  '  Renaissance. ' 

P.  12,  1.  2.  Hafiz  and  Ferdusi,  two  famous  Persian  poets,  who 
flourished  in  the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  centuries  respectively. 

11.  8-12.  Long  after,  ...intercourse,  "In  a  letter  to  him  at 
Calcutta,  dated  30th  March,  1774,  Dr.  Johnson  remarked, 
*  Though  I  have  had  but  little  personal  knowledge  of  you,  I  have 
had  enough  to  make  me  wish  for  more,  and  though  it  is  now  a 
long  time  since  I  was  honoured  by  your  visit,  I  had  too  much 
pleasure  from  it  to  forget  it.'  He  then  alluded  to  Hastings's 
efforts  ■  to  increase  the  learning  of  your  country  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Persian  language,'  and  requested  his  acceptance  of 
an  accompanying  copy  of  Sir  William  Jones's  '  Persian  Grammar.' 
Later  in  the  same  year  Dr.  Johnson  forwarded  to  the  Governor- 
General  a  copy  of  his  own  'Journey  to  the  Western  Isles  of 
Scotland ' ;  and  said,  '  I  wish  you  a  prosperous  government,  a 
safe  return,  and  a  long  enjoyment  of  plenty  and  tranquillity '  " 
(Sir  C.  Lawson). 

1.  27.  Imhoff,  a  baron,  "who  had  been  an  officer  in  the  army 
of  a  minor  German  state,  had  obtained  the  recommendation  of 
Queen  Charlotte,  and  was  proceeding  to  Madras,  ostensibly  to 
seek  employment  in  the  local  army,  but  with  some  view  to 
portrait-painting"  {Diet.  Nat.  Biog.).  Macaulay's  sneer,  in  the 
words  "  He  called  himself  a  baron,"  is  undeserved.  Sir  C. 
Lawson  shows  that  he  was  the  third  son  of  Baron  Christopher 
Imhoff,  and  "seventeenth  in  direct  descent  from  a  crusader  oi 
the  name  of  Hoff,  upon  whom  a  German  emperor  bestowed  a  coat 
of  arms,  and  conferred  the  prefix  of  '  Im,'  in  recognition  of  an  act 
of  great  gallantry  in  the  field." 

I.  30.  pagodas,  a  gold  coin,  worth  about  nine  shillings. 

II.  32,  3.  a  native  ...  Archangel,  "He  read  it  no  doubt  in  the 
Siyyar  Mutaqherin,  vol.  ii.  p.  476,  translator's  note,  'Born  at 
Archangel,'  etc."  (Stephen,  The  Story  of  Nuncomar,  i.  266). 

P.  13,  1.  9.  a  sail,  the  meeting  with  another  vessel. 

P.  14,  1.  8.  Franconia,  in  Saxony. 

1.  11.  they  should  ...  together,  i.e.  the  Imhoffs  as  man  and  wife. 

1.  1 3.  complaisant,  ready  to  condone  an  intimacy  which,  if  he 
had  been  a  man  of  honour,  he  would  have  looked  upon  as  the 
last  disgrace  to  be  endured. 

I.  19.  The  Reverend,  notice  the  sarcasm.  A  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England  condoning  the  baseness  of  a  husband  ! 

II.  21,  2.  conduct ...  lovers,  the  best  excuse  that  could  be  made 
for  the  behaviour  of  Hastings  and  the  Baroness  was  that  her 
husband  showed  so  little  love  for  her  and  so  little  regard  for  her 
honour  that  he  was  willing  to  be  bribed  into  a  divorce. 


NOTES.  143 

i.  34.  In  a  very...  reform,  he  repressed  the  extortions  of  the 
native  middle-men  upon  the  cotton  and  silk  weavers,  so  that 
before  he  left  Madras  a  steady  improvement  had  taken  place  in 
the  bales  of  silk  and  cotton  prepared  for  the  English  markets ; 
and  he  drew  up  a  well-considered  scheme  for  placing  the  Com- 
pany's investments  on  a  better  footing. 

P.  15,  11.  28-30.  in  the  same  relation  ...  Pepin,  Odoacer,  usually 
called  King  of  the  Heruli,  was  the  leader  of  the  barbarians  who 
overthrew  the  Western  Empire  in  a.d.  476,  and  drove  Romulus 
Augustulus  into  exile.  Odoacer  took  the  title  of  King  of  Italy, 
but  was  shortly  afterwards  overthrown  by  Theodoric,  King  of 
the  Goths,  when  he  took  refuge  in  Ravenna.  There  he  was 
besieged  by  Theodoric  for  three  years,  and  at  last  capitulated  on 
condition  that  he  and  Theodoric  should  share  the  kingdom  of 
Italy.  Theodoric,  however,  put  him  to  death  in  493.  Chilperic 
II.,  King  of  Neustria,  was  overthrown  by  Charles  Martel,  a 
descendant  of  the  Pepins.  Pepin  the  Short,  as  he  was  called, 
was  major  domus  to  the  Merovingian  Emperor  of  Austrasia, 
Childeric  III. ,  on  whose  deposition  by  the  Pope  in  752  he  founded 
the  Karling  dynasty. 

1.  33.  public  instruments,  documents,  proclamations,  writs, 
etc. 

I.  34.  cadet,  here  a  subaltern  in  the  army;  a  word  more  com- 
monly used  of  a  young  military  student,  but  also  for  a  younger 
member  of  a  family,  as  the  '  cadet  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family ' ; 
from  "F.  cadet...  &  Poitou  word...  The  Prov.  form  is  capdet, 
formed  from  a  Low  Lat.  capitettum,  a  neuter  form  not  found  ... 
[which]  would  mean  literally  '  a  little  head.'  The  eldest  son  was 
called  caput,  the  '  head '  of  the  family,  the  second  the  capitettum, 
or  lesser  head"  (Skeat,  Ety.  Diet.). 

P.  16,  1.  3.  all  executive  measures,  as  contrasted  with  legis- 
lative and  judicial  measures.  __ 

II.  10,  1.  This  system  ...  Dundas,  Pitt's  East  India  Bill  was 
carried  in  1784  ;  it  "preserved  in  appearance  the  political  and 
commercial  powers  of  the  Directors,  while  establishing  a  Board 
of  Control,  formed  from  members  of  the  Privy  Council,  for  the 
approval  or  annulling  of  their  acts.  Practically,  however,  the 
powers  of  the  Board  of  Directors  were  absorbed  by  a  secret 
committee  of  three  elected  members  of  that  body,  to  whom  all 
the  more  important  administrative  functions  had  been  reserved 
by  the  bill,  while  those  of  the  Board  of  Control  were  virtually 
exercised  by  its  President.  As  the  President  was  in  effect  a  new 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Indian  Department,  and  became  an 
important  member  of  each  Ministry,  responsible,  like  his  fellow- 
members,  for  his  action  to  Parliament,  the  administration  of 
India  was  thus  made  a  part  of  the  general  system  of  the  English 


144  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

•Government ;  while  the  secret  committee  supplied  the  experience 
of  Indian  affairs  in  which  the  Minister  might  be  deficient" 
(Green,  Short  History,  etc.,  p.  795). 

I.  16.  a  casting  vote,  a  vote  which  decided  the  issue  when  the 
numbers  were  equal  in  any  discussion. 

II.  28-30.  To  this  day...  "diplomatic,"  properly  speaking, 
political  is  that  which  has  to  do  with  civil  government ;  diplo- 
matic that  which  has  to  do  with  negotiations  with  foreign 
powers  ;  the  derivation  of  the  latter  word  is  from  Lat.  diploma, 
a  document  conferring  a  privilege,  from  Gk.  8CirXw|j.a,  literally 
anything  folded  double,  diplomas  apparently  having  originally 
been  so  folded.  Even  now  '  political  officers '  in  India  are  those 
who  reside  at  native  courts  as  agents  of  the  British  Government 
for  the  purpose  of  conducting  negotiations,  conveying  the  wishes 
of  that  Government  on  any  matter,  etc. 

P.   17,  1.  2.    mere   ceremonial,   the  formal   ceremonies  to  be 
observed  in  dealing  with  foreign  courts  and  their  representatives. 
1.  5.  stipend,  salary. 

I.  6.  sterling,  genuine,  of  true  weight ;  probably  a  contraction 
of  *  Easter  ling,'  the  Easterlings  or  North  Germans  being  the 
first  moneyers  in  England. 

II.  8,  9.  and  was  . . .  disposal,  the  position  of  the  minister  as 
agent  of  the  company  being  such  that  the  Nawab  would  be  afraid 
to  resist  any  proposition  that  minister  might  make  as  to  the  use 
to  which  the  Nawab's  personal  allowance  should  be  put. 

1.  17.  conflicting  pretensions,  the  claims  which  the  two  candi- 
dates could  urge  to  the  appointment,  there  being  much  to  be  said 
in  favour  of  each  of  the  rivals. 

1.  29.  Maharajah,  the  title  was  not  hereditary  from  his  ances- 
tors, but  was  conferred  by  one  of  the  Nawabs  when  such  titles 
were  cheap.  Nand  Kumar  was  not  indeed  a  man  of  any  family, 
or  even  a  high-caste  Brahman. 

1.  32.  consideration,  respect,  deference. 

P.  18,  1.  3.  that  was  ...  Bengalees,  this  may  have  been  true  as 
regards  Nand  Kumar's  moral  nature,  but  physically  he  was, 
according  to  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot's  description,  "in  person  tall  and 
majestic,  robust  yet  graceful,"  and  according  to  Boswell  of  "an 
excessively  strong  constitution." 

1.  16.  the  Ionian  ...  Juvenal,  the  reference  is  to  Juvenal's  Third 
Satire,  in  which  the  Ionian  is  described  as  made  up  of  subtle 
versatility ;  see   Satire,  iii.  60-78. 

1.  17.  the  Jew...  ages,  when  being  the  aversion  of  every 
European  nation  they  were  obliged  to  resort  to  cunning  to  escape 
that  tyranny  and  spoliation  which  in  their  case  was  considered 
as  perfectly  justifiable. 


NOTES.  145 

11.  19,  20.  what  beauty  ...  woman,  a  reference  to  the  pseudo- 
Anacreon,  who  after  saying  that  nature  gives  horns  to  bulls, 
hoofs  to  horses,  swiftness  to  hares,  etc.,  adds  that  to  women 
she  gives  "beauty  in  place  of  shield  and  sword,  and  she  who 
possesses  that  is  victorious  over  arms  and  fire." 

1.  21.  elaborate ...  falsehood,  webs  of  falsehood  woven  with 
elaborate  skill  and  strengthened  by  details,  giving  to  the  whole 
an  appearance  of  genuine  consistency  ;  tissue  is  that  which  is 
woven,  from  tissu,  the  old  past  participle  of  F.  tistre,  modern  F. 
tisser,  to  weave. 

1.  22.  chicanery,  mean  deception,  sharp  practice. 

1.  32.  his  masters,  those  who  are  his  superiors  in  active  courage 
and  physical  prowess  ;  not  here  the  English  who  were  his  masters 
in  another  sense. 

1.  33.  the  Stoics,  the  disciples  and  followers  of  Zeno  who,  about 
B.C.  320,  when  he  had  developed  his  philosophical  system,  opened 
his  school  in  the  porch  adorned  with  the  paintings  of  Polygnotus, 
Stoa  Poecile  ;  the  main  doctrine  of  his  philosophy  was  a  contempt 
of  all  outward  circumstances,  especially  of  pain,  distress,  etc. 

1.  34.  their  ideal  sage,  the  man  who  realized  their  loftiest  con- 
ception of  a  perfectly  wise  man  ;  here  meaning  Zeno. 

P.  19,  1.  5.  Mucius,  Scsevola,  when  taken  prisoner  in  his 
attempt  to  kill  Porsena,  the  Etruscan  King,  who  was  then 
blockading  Rome,  with  the  object  of  restoring  Tarquinius 
Superbus,  was  by  that  king  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive. 
Hereupon  Mucius  thrust  his  right  hand  into  a  fire  lighted  for  a 
sacrifice,  and  held  it  there  without  flinching.  Porsena,  in 
admiration  of  his  firmness,  spared  his  life.  From  this  exploit  he 
acquired  the  name  of  Scsevola,  i.e.  left-handed. 

1.  6.  Algernon  Sydney,  who  was  to  be  beheaded  for  his  imputed 
share  in  the  Rye-house  plot,  and  met  his  death  with  unmoved 
constancy  in  1682 ;  see  Green,  Short  History,  etc.,  p.  661. 

P.  20, 11.  1-3.  The  revenues  ...  Company,  "Whoever  gained  by 
it  [the  land  revenue],  the  Company  were  defrauded  of  their 
rightful  share.  The  bulk  of  it  was  drained  off  by  a  few  native 
officers,  a  number  of  Zamindars,  or  revenue  farmers,  and  a  swarm 
of  greedy  underlings,  at  the  cost  not  only  of  the  Company,  but 
of  millions  of  helpless  rack-rented  husbandmen.  After  the 
famine  of  1770  the  collecting  of  revenue  in  many  districts 
seemed  like  trying  to  squeeze  water  out  of  a  dry  sponge M 
(Trotter,  pp.  59,  60). 

1.  4.  for,  at  that  time,  the  anticipations  of  the  Company  were 
based  on  these  false  notions,  and  so  were  disappointed. 

1.  6.  porphyry,  a  hard,  variegated  rock,  of  purple  and  white 
colour ;  Gk.  7rop<f>vp€o$,  purple. 


146  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  7.  gold  mohurs,  a  coin  at  that  time  worth  sixteen  rupees, 
but  now  of  greater  relative  value. 

1.  23.  Leadenhall  Street,  where  was  the  head  office  of  the 
Company. 

P.  21,  11.  1-3.  Many  years  ...  compose,  their  quarrel  was  re- 
garding their  respective  functions  and  jurisdiction,  and  was 
ultimately  adjusted  by  Clive. 

1.  11.  the  system  of  double  government,  by  which  the  admini- 
stration of  the  finances  of  the  country,  though  really  in  the  hands 
of  the  Company,  was  nominally  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Nawab. 

1.  24.  On  that  memorable  day,  in  April,  1760,  the  Emperor 
Shah  Alam  was  attacking  Jafar,  whom  the  English  had  made 
Nawab  of  Bengal,  and  had  reached  Murshidabad  :  about  the 
22nd  he  marched  back  and  laid  siege  to  Patna,  aided  by  Chevalier 
Law  with  some  guns.  The  garrison  had  repelled  two  assaults 
when  Knox  appeared  with  200  Europeans,  a  battalion  of  sepoys, 
and  a  small  detail  of  artillery.  After  the  failure  of  the  second 
assault  he  got  into  Patna,  and  the  next  day  sallied  forth  and  fell 
upon  the  besiegers  who  were  speedily  routed  and  fled  precipitately 
a  distance  of  fifty  miles. 

P.  22,  1.  10.  a  considerable  annual  allowance,  viz.  sixteen  lakha 
of  rupees,  half  his  former  allowance. 

1.  14.  Munny  Begum,  the  widow  of  Mir  Jafar. 

1.  19.  the  inoffensive  child,  Gurdas,  who  had  had  no  share  in 
Nand  Kumar's  villanies,  was  an  adult. 

1.  30.  harnessed,  decked  with  handsome  trappings ;  so  we 
speak  of  "  harness  "  for  armour,  even  in  the  case  of  men. 

1.  31.  sent  back  ...  Patna,  as  deputy-governor  of  Bahar. 

L  34.  of  a  broken  heart.  This  is  merely  a  conjecture  of  Mill's 
adopted  by  Macaulay. 

1.  35-P.  23,  1.  5.  The  innocence  ...  liberty.  "  The  trial  of 
Muhammad  Raza  Khan,"  says  Trotter,  pp.  66-7,  "lingered  on  for 
a  whole  year.  The  charges  against  him  were  investigated  day 
by  day  with  unflagging  patience ;  Hastings  himself  filling  the 
twofold  part  of  examiner  and  interpreter.  The  result  of  ex- 
amining scores  of  witnesses  and  hundreds  of  documents  deepened 
his  old  distrust  of  Nanda-Kumar,  and  convinced  him  that,  even 
if  the  accused  were  in  any  way  guilty,  the  time  for  proving  him 
so  had  gone  by.  Nanda-Kumar's  evidence  broke  down  egre- 
giously.  The  evil  old  Brahman  could  only  produce  accornts  that 
proved  nothing,  and  reiterate  charges  which  he  always  failed  to 
make  good.  At  last  the  long  enquiry  ended  in  an  acquittal, 
which  the  Court  of  Directors  subsequently  confirmed.  The 
victim  of  their  rashness  and  Nanda-Kumar's  hate  was  restored 


NOTES.  147 

ere  long  to  much  of  his  former  eminence.  More  fortunate  than 
his  fellow-sufferer,  he  lived  to  hold  high  office  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Bengal,  and  to  see  his  old  traducer  doomed  to  a  felon's 
death." 

11.  20,  1.  The  object ...  money,  this  is  Macaulay's  way  of  pre- 
paring the  ground  for  his  charge  that  the  Rohilla  War  was 
undertaken  without  any  regard  to  the  dangers  which  threatened 
the  British  power  in  India.  For  an  examination  of  the  whole 
subject,  see  Appendix  I. 

11.  25,  6.  the  old  motto  . . .  Teviotdale,  this  is,  or  was,  the  motto 
of  the  Cranstouns,  who  appear  to  have  been  great  lords  of  Teviot- 
dale in  the  old  Border  days,  but  now  live  at  Corehouse,  close  to 
the  Falls  of  the  Clyde.  Henry  of  Cranstoun  is  mentioned  in 
Scott's  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel. 

P.  24, 11.  8,  9.  this  is  in  truth  ...  home.  "This,"  says  Strachey, 
Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War,  p.  264,  "is  a  somewhat  exaggerated 
statement,  but  it  is  substantially  true." 

J^P.  25,  11.  5-8.  On  the  plea  ...  concessions,  Shah  Alam  had  flung 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  Marathas,  the  worst  enemies  of  the 
British  power,  who  treated  him  as  a  mere  puppet,  and  he  had 
given  into  their  keeping  the  provinces  of  Kora  and  Allahabad, 
which  Clive  had  restored  to  him  in  1765.  To  pay  tribute  to  him 
was  therefore  in  reality  to  pay  tribute  to  the  Marathas,  and  the 
Court  of  Directors  had  some  years  before  suggested  the  very  step 
that  Hastings  now  took  in  case  "  he  should  fling  himself  into  the 
hands  of  the  Marathas,  or  any  other  power." 

11.  15,  6.  the  great  Mussulman  ...  governed,  this  was  written  in 
1841  ;  in  1856  Dalhousie  annexed  the  province  of  Oudh. 

11.  19,  21.  such  an  assumption  ...  impiety,  as  being  an  assertion 
of  independence  of  the  Great  Mughal,  the  head  of  the  Musalmans 
in  India. 

1.  23.  Vizier,  minister  ;  more  correctly  transliterated  '  Wazir.  * 

1.  25.    Elector,   a  title  given  to   those  German  princes  who 

formerly  had   the   right   to   take   part   in   the   election   of   the 

Emperor. 

1.  29.  Allahabad,  a  province  whose  capital  is  on  the  Jamna, 
about  five  hundred  miles  north-west  of  Calcutta. 

1.  30.  Corah,  "the  town  of  Kora,  now  much  decayed,  is  about 
a  hundred  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Allahabad.  It  was  a  place 
of  great  importance,  and  the  capital  of  a  province  of  the  Mughal 
empire.  The  provinces  given  to  the  Emperor  by  Clive  were  often 
called  Kora  and  Karra,  the  latter  being  the  name  of  a  consider- 
able town  about  forty  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Allahabad" 
(Strachey,  p.  37). 


U8  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

P.  26,  1.  9.  the  passes,  sc.  of  the  Caucasus ;  the  passes,  from 
10,000  to  13,000  feet  high,  are  a  spur  of  the  Pamir  separating 
the  Kabul  country  from  the  valley  of  the  Oxus. 

1.  12.  Hyphasis,  the  modern  Beds,  one  of  the  five  rivers  from 
which  the  Panjab,  the  country  of  five  rivers,  gets  its  name : 
Hystaspes,  or  rather  Hydaspes,  the  modern  Jhelam,  another  of 
the  same  network  of  rivers. 

1.  18.  Ghlzni,  a  fortress  captured  by  Sir  J.  Keane  in  1839.  It 
had  been  seized  by  the  Ghuri  Sultan  in  1152,  after  which  it 
became  deserted.  In  1758  it  was  occupied  by  Nadir  Shah  on 
his  invasion  of  India,  and  at  his  death  was  incorporated  in  the 
Daurani  empire  by  Ahmad  the  Abdali. 

1.  24.  Cabul,  on  a  river  of  the  same  name,  the  capital  of 
Afghanistan :  Candahar,  another  large  town  and  fortress  in 
Afghanistan,  about  300  miles  south-west  of  Kabul. 

L  26.  Rohillas,  for  an  account  of  this  Afghan  tribe,  see 
Appendix  I. 

1.  27.  fiefs  of  the  spear,  lands  held  on  the  tenure  of  military 
service. 

1.  28.  analogous  ...  things,  the  feudal  system  in  Europe. 

1.  29.  Ramgunga,  the  principal  river  of  Rohilkhand. 

1.  30.  Kumaon,  a  mountainous  district  to  the  north  of  Rohil- 
khand in  which  are  many  of  the  loftier  peaks  of  the  Himalayas, 
and  whose  chief  town  is  '  bleak  Almora. 

1.  31.  Aurungzebe,  one  of  the  four  sons  of  Shahjahan,  who 
reigned  from  1659  to  1707. 

I.  36.  Lahore,  now  the  capital  of  the  Panjab,  on  the  river 
Ravi :  Cape  Comorin,  the  southernmost  point  of  India. 

P.  27,  11.  3,  4.  nor  were  they  ...  poetry,  see  Appendix  I. 

II.  10,  1.  that  of  Catherine  ...  Spain,  in  1773  Catherine,  Empress 
of  Russia,  in  conjunction  with  the  sovereigns  of  Austria  and 
Prussia,  seized  on  Poland,  which  they  divided  among  themselves, 
though  having  no  claim  to  it  but  that  of  might :  in  1808  Napoleon, 
with  no  better  claim,  conquered  Spain,  and  placed  his  brother 
Joseph  on  the  throne.  On  this  Sir  J.  Strachey  remarks,  pp.  25, 
6,  "  When  Macaulay  compares  the  actions  of  Shuja-ud-Daula  in 
Rohilkhand  to  those  of  Catherine  in  Poland  and  those  of  the 
Bonapartes  in  Spain,  the  reader  assumes  that  the  position  of  the 
Rohillas  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Poles  and  Spaniards,  that  of 
an  injured  people  violently  oppressed  by  foreign  invaders  ...  It 
would  be  less  inaccurate  to  compare  the  position  of  the  Rohillas 
in  Rohilkhand  with  that  of  the  Russians  in  Poland,  or  with  that 
of  the  French  in  Spain  in  the  time  of  Napoleon.  The  three  cases 
had  at  least  this  in  common,  that  in  each  of  them  a  body  of 
foreign   soldiers  was  more   or  less  successful  in  imposing,  by 


NOTES.  149 

violence  and  bloodshed,  its  rule  over  a  large  and  unwilling 
population.  The  Rohillas  were  as  much  foreigners  in  Rohil- 
khand  as  Frenchmen  in  Spain  or  Russians  in  Poland." 

1.  21.  eighty  thousand  men,  this  is  an  exaggeration,  if  Macaulay 
means  that  they  could  bring  this  number  of  their  own  people  into 
the  field.  The  Rohillas  in  Rohilkhand  probably  never  numbered 
more  than  forty  thousand.  Macaulay's  estimate  is  taken  from 
Mill,  who  took  it  from  Verelst,  but  Verelst  was  referring  to  the 
probable  number  of  Afghans  that  could  be  brought  together  not 
in  Rohilkhand  alone  but  in  the  whole  of  Northern  India,  if  the 
various  chiefs  were  united. 

I.  22.  Sujah  Dowlah  ...  fight,  as  for  instance  when  Major  Munro 
with  a  force  of  seven  thousand  men,  mostly  sepoys,  won  the 
splendid  victory  of  Baksar  over  fifty  thousand  of  Shuja's  own 
troops  in  October,  1764. 

II.  24,  5.  Caucasian  tribes,  Macaulay  means  the  Afghans,  who 
were  supposed  to  have  come  from  Mount  Caucasus. 

I.  30.  the  imperial  people,  people  formed  for  empire,  the 
English. 

P.  28,  1.  1.  A  bargain  ...  struck,  see  Appendix  I. 

II.  24,  5.  The  hussar-mongers  ...  Anspach,  the  princes  of  Hesse 
and  Anspach,  two  German  duchies,  who  virtually  sold  their  sub- 
jects to  serve  as  mercenaries  with  the  British. 

^r.  29,  1.  6.  Did  it  lie  in  their  mouths,  could  they  with  any 
propriety  say  ? 

1.  8.  a  caput  lupinum,  a  wolf's  head,  i.e.  what  might  well  be 
cut  off. 

I.  17.  offered  a  large  ransom,  this  is  not  the  case;  Hafiz 
Rahmat  would  make  no  promise  of  payment  of  the  sum  due 
to  the  Wazir  according  to  the  treaty  made  between  them :  see 
Appendix  I. 

II.  22,  3.  The  dastardly  . . .  field,  see  Appendix  I. 

P.  30,  11.  1-6.  More  than  ...  daughters,  those  who  fled  to  "pes- 
tilential jungles," — by  which  Macaulay  means  the  Tarai,  a  belt  of 
forest  land  at  the  foot  of  the  hills, — were  not  Rohillas,  but  the 
Hindu  cultivators,  who  very  soon  returned  to  their  homes,  and 
neither  they  nor  the  Rohillas  suffered  anything  as  regards  "the 
honour  of  their  wives  and  daughters." 

1.  26.  to  take  order,  to  take  measures,  act  in  such  a  way  as  to 
ensure  that,  etc. 

1.  35.  the  injured  nation,  on  the  term  nation  as  applied  to  the 
Rohillas,  see  Appendix  I. 

P.  31,  1.  4.  at  the  cold  steel,  in  a  bayonet  charge  or  a  hand  to 
hand  combat  with  swords. 


150  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  26.  Lord  North,  Prime  Minister  from  1770  to  1782. 

P.  32,  1.  2.  undefined  extent,  the  evils  resulting  from  this 
want  of  strict  definition  are  noticed  further  on,  pp.  56-60. 

1.  8.  Clavering,  says  Trotter,  p.  96,  "was  an  honest,  hot- 
headed soldier,  who  had  led  the  attack  on  Guadeloupe  in  1759, 
and  whose  Parliamentary  influence  had  raised  him  into  favour 
with  the  King  and  Lord  North":  Monson  "appears  to  have 
been  a  man  of  small  intellect,  arrogant,  rash,  self-willed,  but 
easily  led  by  these  who  paid  him  the  needful  deference. " 

1.  15.  manly  spirit,  if  manly  is  here  nothing  more  than  a 
synonym  of  'fearless,'  'bold,'  it  is  applicable  enough  to  Francis, 
but  his  behaviour  to  Hastings  was  full  of  misrepresentation  and 
underhand  malice. 

1.  23.  Letters  of  Junius,  published  in  1769-72  in  the  Public 
Advertiser,  and  addressed  to  a  variety  of  public  men. 

I.  35.  Lord  Chatham,  the  elder  Pitt,  several  times  Prime  Minister. 
P.  33,  11.  1,  2.  the  first  Lord  Holland,  Henry  Fox,  father  of  his 

greater  son,  Charles  James  Fox. 

II.  13-5.  If  this  argument  ...  evidence,  strong  as  Macaulay's 
arguments  are,  the  controversy  still  rages,  though  most  people 
believe  that  Francis  was  Junius. 

1.  31.  Corneille,  1606-84,  the  creator  of  the  French  drama,  pro- 
duced thirty-three  plays  besides  several  volumes  of  poetry. 

1.  33.  Bunyan,  John,  a  Baptist  minister,  1628-88,  who  wrote 
the  famous  allegory  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  Holy  War, 
Grace  Abounding,  etc. 

1.  34.  Cervantes,  the  great  Spanish  novelist;  1547-1616. 

1.  35.  the  Man  in  the  Mask,  here  meaning  of  course  Junius, 
but  in  allusion  to  the  'Man  in  the  Iron  Mask,'  the  name  given  to 
a  French  state  prisoner  whose  face  was  always  concealed  in  an 
iron  mask,  and  who  has  not  been  identified. 

P.  34,  1.  1.  letter  to  the  king,  one  of  the  most  famous  and  most 
violent  of  the  series,  published  19th  December,  1779. 

1.  2.  Home  Tooke,  a  clergyman  and  politician,  best  known  as 
the  author  of  the  Diversions  of  Purley,  a  work  on  philology  of 
which  most  of  the  conclusions  have  been  proved  unsound  by  more 
recent  investigations. 

1.  10.  Woodfall,  the  printer  who  was  prosecuted  for  publishing 
the  letters. 

I.  18.  the  Hebrew  prophet,  Jonah ;  see  ch.  iv.,  ver.  9. 

II.  28,  9.  a  respect . . .  pedantry,  a  veneration  similar  to  that  of 
bookworms  for  works  that  have  no  better  claim  to  honour  than 
the  fact  of  their  being  antiquated. 


NOTES.  151 

I.  29.  Old  Sarum,  a  village  in  Wiltshire  which,  till  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832,  returned  a  member  of  Parliament  by  the  vote  of  a 
single  householder. 

II.  30,  1.  Manchester  and  Leeds,  which,  though  large  and  popu- 
lous towns,  returned  no  member  of  Parliament  till  the  same 
Reform  Bill. 

_^E«  35>  1-  3.  George  Grenville,  Prime  Minister  from  1763-5. 

1.  6.  the  Middlesex  election,  John  Wilkes,  notorious  for  his 
profane  and  licentious  life,  was  three  times  elected  for  Middlesex, 
but  being  prosecuted  for  libellous,  seditious,  and  immoral  works, 
was  refused  admission  to  the  House  of  Commons,  though  in  the 
end  he  took  his  seat  in  1774.  A  graphic  account  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances will  be  found  in  Macaulay's  Essay  on  The  Earl  of 
Chatham. 

I.  7.  faction,  party ;  not  here  used  in  its  more  unfavourable 
sense. 

II.  13,  4.  he  must  "be  ...  again,  it  would  be  utter  folly  in  him  to 
continue  his  letters  when  he  saw  how  useless  was  the  hope  of 
stirring  up  any  party  to  support  the  views  he  advocated. 

11.  22,  3.  With  the  three  . . .  Court,  but  in  a  different  vessel. 

1.  27.  tool,  Impey  may  sometimes  have  been  too  ready  to  help 
Hastings,  as  in  the  matter  of  the  affidavits,  but  he  was  no  tool. 
When  he  felt  he  had  just  cause,  he  vigorously  opposed  Hastings. 

1.  31.  punctilious,  unduly  sensitive  in  regard  to  the  marks  of 
honour  to  which  they  thought  themselves  entitled.  Their  griev- 
ance on  this  matter  they  at  once  made  the  subject  of  minutes 
and  correspondence,  and  even  thought  them  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  be  recorded  in  their  first  Despatch  to  the  Court  of 
Directors. 

P.  36,  11.  10-2.  condemned...  Vizier,  and  yet  they  were  eager 
enough  to  enforce  payment  of  the  money  due  from  the  Wazir  on 
account  of  the  Rohilla  War. 

I.  13.  creature,  nominee  ;  apparently  not  used  here  in  its  more 
offensive  sense. 

II.  19-22.  threw  all ...  government,  in  1774  Raghunath  Rao, 
commonly  called  Raghuba,  who  on  the  death  of  his  nephew,  the 
Peshwa,  in  1773,  had  got  himself  installed  as  his  successor  in  that 
office,  was  opposed  by  Nana  Farnavis,  posthumous  son  of  the  late 
Peshwa.  Defeated  in  the  field,  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
the  Bombay  Government,  agreeing  in  return  for  a  body  of  troops 
to  cede  to  that  Government  the  island  of  Salsette,  and  the  port 
of  Bassein.  The  majority  in  Council  condemned  these  negotia- 
tions, and  ordered  K  eating's  column  to  return  to  Bombay.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  Bombay  Government,  by  the  treaty  of 
Purandhar,  engaged  to  give  up  Salsette,  as  well  as  other  con- 


152  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

quests,  in  exchange  for  a  district  near  Broach,  and  a  promise  of 
twelve  lakhs  of  rupees  towards  the  expenses  of  the  war.  "  Hast- 
ings' opponents  had  the  spirit  indeed  to  join  with  him  in  refusing 
on  any  terms  to  give  up  Salsette.  But  when  the  Directors  an- 
nounced their  approval  of  the  treaty  with  Raghuba,  and  con- 
demned the  policy  which  issued  in  the  treaty  of  Purandhar, 
Francis  and  Clavering  threw  all  the  blame  of  failure  on  the 
Governor- General  himself  "  (Trotter,  p.  126). 

11.  22,  3.  fell  on  . . .  Bengal,  they  abolished  the  provincial  courts 
that  Hastings  had  set  up,  restored  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Nawab, 
and  re-appointed  Muhammad  Raza  Khan  to  his  old  post. 

P.  37,  1.  4.  after  their  kind,  according  to  their  nature. 

I.  17.  It  is  well,  i.e.  fortunate  for  the  person  accused. 

II.  29,  30.  Oateses  ...  Dangerfields.  Oates,  Bedloe,  and  Danger- 
field  in  1678  pretended  to  have  discovered  a  Popish  plot  aiming 
at  the  subversion  of  Protestantism  and  the  death  of  the  king. 
See  Green,  Short  History,  etc.,  pp.  650,  1. 

11.  35,  6.  to  wreak . . .  years,  to  satisfy  the  malice  he  had 
cherished  since  he  first  quarrelled  with  Hastings  in  1758. 

P.  38,  1.  3.  paid  . . .  them,  sought  their  favour  by  every  kind  of 
servility. 

I.  4.  with  all  indignity,  with  every  mark  of  disgrace. 

II.  26,  7.  that  he  could  not . . .  Nuncomar,  see  Appendix  II. 

1.  34.  produced  a  . . .  supplement,  rather  he  gave  details  of  his 
charges. 
//  P.  39,  1.  9.  attestation,  sc.  by  means  of  her  seal. 

I.  24.  higher  authority,  the  Court  of  Directors. 

II.  29-31.  unless  it  should  ...Governor-General,  Hastings'  words 
were,  "if  the  first  advices  from  England  contain  a  disapprobation 
of  the  treaty  of  Benares  or  of  the  Rohilla  war,  and  mark  an  evi- 
dent disinclination  towards  me. " 

P.  40,  1.  2.  wheedling,  coaxing,  cajoling  ;  the  word  is  sup- 
posed by  Skeat  to  be  from  G.  wedeln,  to  wag  the  tail,  to  fan. 

I.  5.  resources,  sc.  of  his  mind. 

II.  19,  20.  possessing  ...  stronghold,  getting  the  Supreme  Court 
on  his  side. 

I.  25.  committed,  for  trial. 

II.  28-30.  But  it  was  then  ...  business,  see  Appendix  II. 

P.  41,  1.  1.  assizes,  a  session  of  a  court  of  justice  ;  O.F.  assis, 
an  assembly  of  judges. 

1.  2.  a  true  hill  was  found,  i.e.  the  Grand  Jury  gave  as  their 
decision  that  there  was  sufficient  prima  facie  evidence  for  the 
matter  to  be  tried  before  a  common  jury. 


NOTEa  153 

I.  3.  before  Sir  Elijah  Impey,  this  is  disingenuous.  Macaulay, 
in  order  to  strengthen  his  case  against  Impey,  conceals  the  fact 
that  the  trial  was  before  the  four  judges  who  comprised  the 
Supreme  Court — all  of  whom  agreed  with  Impey's  summing  up — 
and  an  English  jury,  the  members  of  which  the  prisoner  was  at 
liberty  to  challenge  in  case  he  objected  to  their  choice,  and 
several  of  whom  he  did  challenge. 

II.  19,  20.  The  Council ...  interfere,  but  a  recommendation  from 
them  to  the  effect  that  a  reprieve  should  be  granted  until  the 
case  was  referred  home  would  have  been  one  that  could  not  be 
disregarded.  The  Council  declined  to  make  such  a  recommenda- 
tion, Clavering  assigning  as  a  reason  that  it  was  a  private  trans- 
action of  Nand  Kumar's  own,  that  it  had  no  relation  whatever  to 
the  public  concerns  of  the  country,  and  that  he  would  not  make 
any  application  in  favour  of  a  man  who  had  been  guilty  of 
forgery.  In  this  view  Monson  concurred.  Impey  declared,  in 
his  defence,  that  if  such  an  application  had  been  made  to  the 
Court  it  would  have  been  granted  at  once. 

11.21,2.  That  Impey ...  clear,  see  a  statement  of  Sir  J. 
Stephen's  views  on  this  point  in  Appendix  II. 

11.  29,  30.  It  had  never  . . .  delinquents,  see  Appendix  II. 

P.  42,  1.  4.  But  Impey ...  delay,  another  piece  of  injustice  to 
Impey.  He  did  not  hurry  on  the  execution,  nor  was  it  in  his 
single  power  to  show  mercy. 

11.  8,  9.  Clavering ...  rescued,  there  is  no  authority  whatever 
for  this  statement. 

I.  22.  a  Brahmin  of  the  Brahmins,  nothing  more  than  a  rhe- 
torical expansion  of  the  previous  words. 

II.  29,  30.  According  to  ...  whatever,  yet  many  Brahmans  had 
suffered  death  since  the  introduction  of  English  law,  and  a  Brah- 
man had  even  been  sentenced  capitally  on  a  forgery  indictment, 
though  the  sentence  was  commuted  on  petition.  Macaulay's  insin- 
uation, therefore,  that  such  a  fate  was  unprecedented  has  no  force. 

11.  31-3.  was  regarded  ...jockey,  "that  is,"  says  Sir  J.  Stephen, 
"in  the  sight  of  a  mere  breach  of  warranty." 

P.  43,  1.  1.  The  Mahommedan  historian,  this  was  Sayyid  Ghu- 
lam  Husen  Khan;  his  history  was  entitled  Siyyar-ul-Mutakharin, 
or  the  "Review  of  ^Modern  Times,"  and  was  translated  by  a 
French  refugee  named  Raymond,  who  called  himself  Mustapha. 
In  confirmation  of  his  story  as  regards  Nand  Kumar,  Barwell, 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  sister,  says  that  "fourteen  blank 
covers  of  letters  sealed  with  many  English  gentlemen's  and 
Hindostanee  names  were  found  in  the  Maha  Rajah  Nuncomar's 
house,  and  delivered  into  Council,  as  may  be  fully  proved  by 
reference  to  the  Records  of  Council." 


154  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

P.  44,  1.  12.  Dacca,  a  large  and  populous  town  about  150  miles 
north-east  of  Calcutta,  and  once  the  capital  of  Bengal.  It  was 
formerly  famous  for  the  beauty  of  its  muslins,  and  its  rice  is  still 
the  finest  in  India. 

11.  16-8.  No  rational  man  ...  Governor-General,  see  Appendix  II. 

11.  23-5.  These  strong  . . .  Hastings,  see  Sir  J.  Stephen's  explana- 
tion in  the  same  Appendix. 

P.  45,  1.  13.  Lord  Stafford,  a  Catholic  nobleman  beheaded  in 
1680  for  his  share  in  the  Popish  plot  invented  by  Oates :  see 
above,  p.  37,  1.  29. 

P.  46,  1.  31.  Tour  to  the  Hebrides,  by  Johnson,  in  1773;  a 
narrative  of  a  journey  he  made  with  Boswell  to  Scotland  and  the 
adjacent  islands  on  the  west  coast:  Jones's  Persian  Grammar,  in  1771 
Sir  William  Jones,  a  famous  Oriental  scholar,  published  this  work. 

P.  47,  11.  9-11.  As  Lady  Macbeth  ...  win,"  Macb.  i.  5.  22,  3. 

I.  14.  on  an  address  ...  Company,  in  case  the  Company  should 
address  the  Crown  with  a  petition  for  his  removal. 

II.  21,  2.  Court  of  Directors,  the  governing  body  elected  by  the 
votes  of  the  proprietors  of  India  stock. 

1.  24.  The  great  sale-room,  in  which  were  held  auctions  of  the 
goods  received  from  India. 

1.  27.  held  India  stock,  had  shares  in  the  Company,  and  there- 
fore were  entitled  to  votes :  Lord  Sandwich,  John  Montagu, 
fourth  Earl  of  Sandwich,  1718-1792,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty 
in  1763  and  1771,  and  Secretary  of  State  in  the  former  year. 

1.  28.  the  friends  of  the  administration,  those  of  the  proprietors 
of  India  stock  who  were  supporters  of  Lord  North's  government, 
and  therefore  wished  to  get  rid  of  Hastings. 

1.  30.  seldom  ...  eastward,  the  India  Office  being  in  Leadenhall 
Street,  at  the  extreme  east  of  London,  while  the  residences  of 
these  peers  were  in  the  west  end,  the  fashionable  quarter. 

I.  32.  a  ballot,  in  which  the  voting  was  secret,  and  in  which, 
though  the  number  of  voters  might  be  against  Hastings,  the 
number  of  votes  would  not  necessarily  be  so,  since  the  amount  of 
stock  held  by  each  proprietor  regulated  the  number  of  votes  he 
could  give. 

P.  48, 1.  10.  the  crown  lawyers,  the  legal  advisers  of  the  govern- 
ment, more  especially  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Attorney-General, 
and  the  Solicitor- General. 

II.  12,  3.  an  honourable  retreat,  by  a  voluntary  resignation 
without  waiting  for  dismissal. 

11.  15,  6.  The  instrument ...  form,  it  being  merely  part  of  a 
private  letter  from  Hastings  to  Macleane,  instead  of  a  formal 
document  addressed  to  the  Court  of  Directors. 


NOTES.  155 

11.  29-32.  He  instantly ...  ordered,  by  the  death  of  Monson  his 
hands  were  "strengthened  at  a  timely  moment  for  the  work  of 
revising  the  land  settlements  of  1772.  In  order  to  collect  full 
materials  for  the  new  settlement  he  appointed  a  special  commis- 
sion of  enquiry,  headed  by  Anderson  and  Bogle,  two  of  the  ablest 
civil  officers  in  Bengal.  A  few  weeks  later,  Middleton  resumed 
his  old  post  of  Resident  at  Lucknow  in  the  room  of  Francis' 
favourite,  Bristow.  The  younger  Fowke  was  speedily  recalled 
from  Benares  "  (Trotter,  p.  128). 

P.  49,  1.  1.  subsidiary  alliances,  alliances  in  which  the  native 
powers  were  to  maintain  a  British  force  at  their  own  expense,  and 
so  virtually  come  under  the  control  of  the  Company's  Government. 

I.  3.  Berar,  a  province  of  Central  India  belonging  to  the 
Nizam  of  Haidarabad  :  paramount,  supreme,  chief. 

P.  50,  11.  2-4.  He  directed  . . .  his,  '  *  By  virtue  of  his  office  the 
Governor-General  would  also  act  as  Commander-in-Chief.  His 
counter-orders  to  the  troops  were  cheerfully  obeyed.  Colonel 
Morgan  closed  the  gates  of  Fort  William  against  General  Claver- 
ing,  and  a  like  answer  came  from  Barrackpur  and  Baj-Baj " 
(Trotter,  pp.  136,  7). 

II.  35,  6.  The  exertion  ...  later,  there  seems  no  warrant  for  con- 
necting his  death  with  his  presence  at  the  wedding.  He  was 
taken  ill  on  his  way  home  from  a  visit  to  Impey,  and  died  within 
the  fortnight. 

P.  51,  11.  9-13.  The  truth  is  ...  acknowledge,  "the  East  India 
proprietors  stood  by  Hastings,  discerning  him  to  be  the  best  man 
for  their  interests  in  a  stormy  time.  Burgoyne  had  surrendered 
at  Saratoga :  the  French  had  just  declared  war ;  and  on  the 
whole  the  Ministers  could  not  venture  to  send  out  a  new  and 
untried  Governor-General  to  India  "  (Lyall,  p.  90). 

11.  25,  6.  humbled  ...  Second,  the  reference  is  to  the  elder  Pitt 
and  the  series  of  victories  obtained  by  the  British  forces  through- 
out the  world  during  his  administration. 

1.  30.  the  too  just  ..  Ireland,  these  had  reference  to  commercial 
and  religious  restrictions.  In  1779  the  Sheriffs  of  Dublin 
stated  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant  that  the  poor  were  on  the  brink 
of  starvation,  and  nothing  but  freedom  of  trade  would  save 
them.  The  Catholics  were  furious  about  their  religious  dis- 
abilities, and  something  was  done  to  ameliorate  their  position 
by  the  first  Catholic  Relief  Bill  passed  in  July  of  the  same 
year. 

1.  32.  the  armed  ...  Baltic,  the  combination  of  Russia,  Sweden, 
and  Denmark  to  resist  the  claim  which  England  had  hitherto 
maintained  to  search  their  ships  if  suspected  of  carrying  arms  or 
men  to  be  used  against  it. 


156  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  33.  jeopardy,  imminent  danger;  from  "O.F.  jeu  parti,  a 
divided  game  ...  a  game  in  which  the  chances  are  exactly  even  "... 
(Skeat,  My.  Diet.). 

1.  34.  Calpe,  the  classical  name  for  the  modern  Gibraltar. 

P.  52,  1.  11.  wild  range  of  hills,  otherwise  called  the  *  Sahyadri 
range.' 

I.  13.  Sevajee,  Madho  Rao  Sivaji,  founder  of  the  Maratha 
power  in  the  reign  of  Aurangzeb.     See  Appendix  IV. 

II.  17,8.  generated ...  monarchy ,  who  owed  their  origin  to 
the  gradual  breaking  up  of  the  Mughal  empire,  which  followed 
upon  the  reign  of  Aurangzeb  ;  the  metaphor  is  that  of  insect  life 
generated  in  decomposing  bodies. 

1.  20.  Freebooters,  plunderers,  those  who  unscrupulously  made 
a  booty  or  spoil  of  the  possessions  of  others. 

1.  22.  The  Bonslas,  one  of  the  Maratha  families,  who  were 
finally  subdued  in  1817. 

1.  24.  The  Guicowar,  or  more  properly  Gaekwar,  a  title  given 
to  a  prince  who  still  reigns  at  Baroda,  about  300  miles  almost 
direct  north  of  Bombay. 

1.  26.  Scindia,  whose  descendant,  the  chief  representative  of 
the  Marathas  in  India,  reigns  at  Gwaliar,  about  eighty  miles 
south-east  of  Agra.  Holkar,  another  Maratha  chief,  whose 
descendant  reigns  at  Indor  in  Malwa,  about  a  hundred  miles 
east  of  Baroda. 

1.  28.  Gooti,  in  the  Bellari  district,  north  of  Maisdr. 

1.  30.  Tanjore,  about  200  miles  almost  direct  south  of  Pondi- 
cherry. 

1.  35.  Tamerlane,  or  Timur-lang,  i.e.  the  lame  Timur,  the 
great  Tatar  shepherd  who  descended  upon  India  in  1398  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  Mughal  empire,  which  Babar  and 
Akbar  afterwards  consolidated. 

P.  53,  1.  3.  a  roi  faine*ant,  an  idle,  slothful  sovereign  ;  a  king 
in  name,  who  leaves  all  his  functions  to  be  discharged  by  sub- 
ordinates, and  gives  himself  up  to  dissolute  enjoyment :  bang,  or 
bhang,  an  intoxicating  drug  made  from  wild  hemp,  and  taken 
generally  in  smoking. 

1.  4.  Sattara,  a  fortified  town  about  100  miles  south-east  of 
Bombay. 

1.  5.  Peshwa,  literally  *  president,'  f  chief  minister.' 

1.  6.  Pqonah,  about  80  miles  south-east  of  Bombay  ;  now  the 
residence  -of  the  Bombay  government  for  part  of  the  hot  weather. 

1.  8.  Aurungabad,  a  city  about  250  miles  north-east  of  Bombay : 
Bejapoor,  rather  more  than  250  miles  south-east  of  Sattara. 


NOTES.  157 

11.  10,  1.  a  French  adventurer,  "the  Chevalier  St.  Lubin  who 
had  induced  the  French  minister  to  entrust  him  with  a  commis- 
sion to  visit  India,  reconnoitre  the  situation,  and  to  report  on 
the  practicability  of  landing  a  force  upon  the  coast  from  the  Isle 
of  France"  (Lyall,  p.  94). 

1.  19.  a  pretender,  this  was  Raghunath  Rao,  or  Raghuba, 
already  mentioned. 

11.28-30.  All  the  measures  ...  delay,  Francis,  as  usual,  con- 
demned the  proceedings  taken  by  Hastings,  and  Wheler  joined 
with  him. 

1.  30.  The  French  . . .  Bengal,  the  principal  of  these  was  Chan- 
dranagar,  a  few  miles  west  of  Calcutta. 

1.  31.  Pondicherry,  the  chief  French  settlement  in  southern 
India,  about  90  miles  direct  south  of  Madras ;  now  one  of  the 
few  French  possessions  left. 

I.  36.  Lascars,  native  sailors ;  the  word  is  from  the  Persian 
lashkar,  army. 

P.  54,  1.  3.  his  presidency,  sc.  Bengal :  so  called  from  being 
governed  by  the  President  of  the  Council.  The  three  Presi- 
dencies of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay,  are  now  subdivided  into 
ten  provinces. 

II.  9,  10.  A  new  commander  ...  predecessor,  this  was  Goddard, 
who  took  the  field  in  January,  1780,  quickly  captured  the  im- 
portant city  of  Ahmadabad,  and  twice  defeated  the  combined 
armies  of  Holkar  and  Sindhia. 

1.  13.  a  new  ...  danger,  that  arising  from  collision  with  Haidar 
Ali  and  the  French  in  southern  India. 

1.  18.  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  it  was  in  1761  that  this  general  first 
distinguished  himself  when  he  compelled  the  French  commander, 
the  daring  Lally,  to  surrender  himself  and  the  capital,  Pondi- 
cherry. 

11.25,6.  the  brave  ...  Lally,  "Thomas  Arthur,  Count  Lally 
and  Baron  Tollendal,  son  of  Sir  Gerard  O'Lally,  who,  after  the 
capture  of  Limerick  in  1691,  had  migrated  to. France  and  had 
entered  the  service  of  Louis  XIV.  Nine  years  after  there  was 
born  to  Sir  Gerard  the  son  who,  trained  from  his  earliest  youth 
in  the  French  armies,  had  merited  at  Fontenoy  the  commendations 
of  Marshal  Saxe  ;  who  had  taken  part  in  the  '45,  and  had  fought 
at  Laffeldt."...  On  his  return  to  France,  after  captivity  in 
England,  ■ ■  he  was  condemned  on  the  most  casual  evidence,  and 
after  three  years  of  lingering  agony  was  condemned  to  be 
beheaded.  On  May  8,  1766,  he  was  transferred  from  prison  to  a 
dung-cart,  and  with  a  gag  thrust  into  his  mouth,  was  taken 
through  the  streets  of  Paris  to  the  scaffold  "  (Malleson,  Dupleix, 
pp.   168,   175).      "The  wretched  government,"  says  Macaulay, 


158  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Essay  on  Clive,  "of  Lewis  the  Fifteenth  had  murdered,  directly 
or  indirectly,  almost  every  Frenchman  who  had  served  his 
country  with  distinction  in  the  East.  Labourdonnais  was  flung 
into  the  Bastile,  and,  after  years  of  suffering,  left  only  to  die. 
Dupleix,  stripped  of  his  immense  fortune  and  broken-hearted  by 
humiliating  attendance  in  ante- chambers,  sank  into  an  obscure 
grave.  Lally  was  dragged  to  the  common  place  of  execution 
with  a  gag  between  his  lips."  Wandewash,  a  fortified  town 
between  Madras  and  Pondicherry. 

1.  35.  allowances,  personal  and  local  additions  to  pay. 

P.  55,  1.  6.  Porto  Novo  and  Pollilore,  at  the  former  place  Coote 
finished  his  long  campaign  in  the  Karnatak  by  a  decisive  victory 
in  July,  1781,  defeating  Haidar  Ali's  army  of  80,000  men  by  a 
force  of  only  one-tenth  of  those  numbers  ;  the  victory  at  Polilur 
in  August  was  less  decisive. 

1.  8.  a  memorial,  a  petition  for  the  redress  of  some  grievance, 
or  the  concession  of  some  favour. 

1.  19.  the  most  ...  allowances,  allowances  for  travelling  ex- 
penses, table-money,  etc.,  paid  on  a  scale  which  he  had  no  right 
to  claim. 

I.  20.  the  strongest  passions,  avarice  and  self-indulgence. 

II.  27,  8.  Coote  ...  faction,  Coote  had  never  espoused  the  cause 
of  either  party  in  the  Council  with  factious  warmth. 

11.  32,  3.  to  promote  . . .  liberty,  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
which  would  enable  him  to  quit  the  Council  without  having  to 
leave  Hastings  to  face  a  hostile  majority. 

1.  35.  the  friends  of  Francis,  those  of  the  Company's  service  to 
whom  Francis  had  shown  favour. 

P.  56, 1.  1.  apparent  harmony,  for  Francis  had  never  abandoned 
his  rancour  towards  Hastings. 

1.  4.  internal  calamities,  on  this  quarrel  between  the  Council 
and  the  Supreme  Court,  see  Appendix  III. 

I.  25.  vices,  imperfections  and  drawbacks. 

II.  34,  5.  No  man  ...  zone,  exile,  in  any  case  painful  enough, 
becomes  doubly  painful  when  it  is  to  a  climate  utterly  different 
from  that  of  one's  own  country. 

P.  57,  11.  3,  4.  in  chambers  ...  Thames,  an  allusion  to  the 
Temple  Inns  of  Court  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames. 

1.  5.  Westminster  Hall,  where  the  chief  law  courts  were  held. 

1.  9.  modifications,  alterations  adapting  it  to  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  country. 

1.  12.  Arrest  on  mesne  process,  the  introduction  of  this  law 
"  into  India  was,"  says  Sir  J.  Stephen,  "indefensible.     The  effect 


NOTES.  159 

of  it  was  that  on  an  affidavit  sworn  behind  his  back  a  man  might 
be  arrested  at  Dacca,  for  instance,  or  Patna,  and  brought  to  Cal- 
cutta, there  to  be  imprisoned  at  a  distance  of  many  hundred  miles 
from  his  home,  unless  he  could  give  bail  for  an  action  perhaps 
unjustly  brought  against  him.  Even  if  he  pleaded  to  the  juris- 
diction, and  his  plea  was  allowed,  he  was  put  to  much  incon- 
venience, and,  at  all  events,  he  had  to  employ  at  a  great  expense 
English  attorneys  and  counsel "  (ii.  p.  145) :  mesne,  middle, 
intermediate  between  accusation  and  trial. 

11.  15-7.  the  feeling  ...  native,  Macaulay  has  no  authority  for 
this  statement ;  native  witnesses  perhaps  object  to  oaths  when 
they  do  not  intend  to  tell  the  truth. 

1.  18.  quality,  rank ;  the  term  •  a  person  of  quality '  was,  not 
very  long  ago,  commonly  used  for  a  '  nobleman. 

1.  21.  can  be  expiated  ...  blood,  nothing  less  than  the  death  of 
those  who  had  committed  the  outrage  could  suffice  to  blot  out 
its  disgrace. 

I.  30.  callings,  professions  ;  here  the  clerical  profession. 

II.  32,  3,  to  treat ...  Tyler,  in  1380  Wat  Tyler,  who  afterwards 
headed  an  insurrection,  slew  a  tax-collector  for  a  gross  insult  to 
one  of  his  daughters. 

P.  58,  11.  1-10.  A  reign  ...  sounds,  see  Sir  J.  Stephen's  criticism 
of  this  passage  in  Appendix  III. 

1.  12.  barrators,  as  a  law  term  this  word  means  one  who 
vexatiously  raises,  or  incites,  to  litigation ;  one  who  from  malicious- 
ness, or  for  the  sake  of  gain,  raises  discord  among  neighbours ; 
but  it  is  also  used  in  a  variety  of  other  senses,  especially  of  those 
given  to  fraudulent  transactions  or  quarrelsome  behaviour : 
agents  of  chicane,  men  employed  in  every  kind  of  shifty  and 
subtle  intrigue. 

1.  15.  spunging-houses,  the  houses  of  sheriffs'  officers  in  which 
debtors  were  formerly  confined  before  trial,  and  where  the 
charges  were  so  extortionate  that  the  inmates  were  squeezed  dry 
like  a  spunge. 

1.  21-P.  59,  1.  17.  There  were  instances  ...  days,  see  Appendix 
III.  for  Sir  J.  Stephen's  criticism  of  this  passage. 

1.  23.  alguazils,  a  Spanish  adaptation  of  Arabic  al-ivazir,  the 
minister,  and  used  in  Spanish  both  for  a  justiciary  and  a  bailiff. 
Here  of  course  Macaulay  employs  the  word  in  its  lowest  sense, 
and  with  the  intention  of  implying  extortionate  and  cruel 
treatment. 

1.  33.  Vansittart,  Governor  of  Bengal  in  the  interval  between 
Olive's  first  and  second  administrations,  who  vainly  endeavoured 
to  check  the  excesses  of  the  Company's  servants. 

P.  59,  1.  5.  pettifoggers,  instruments  of  petty  extortion. 


1G0  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  11.  catchpoles,  bailiffs;  literally  the  word  means  one  who 
hunts  or  chases  fowls  ;  though  not  in  earlier  times  used  in  a  con- 
temptuous sense,  it  has  long  had  that  sense. 

1.  12.  gang-robbers,  the  dakaits  who,  till  late  years,  infested 
India. 

I.  26-9.  The  consequence  ...  dissolved,  this  sneer  is  ungenerous, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  friendship  between 
Hastings  and  Impey  was  less  disinterested  than  ordinary  friend- 
ships.    For  the  rest  of  the  paragraph,  see  Appendix  III. 

II.  35,  6.  Hastings  ...  call,  Sir  J.  Stephen  remarks,  "  The 
passage  as  to  Hastings's  *  just  scorn '  at  being  sued  for  his  public 
acts  is  remarkable.  Surely  it  is  one  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  English  law  that  a  man  who  holds  a  public  office  is  liable  to 
an  action  for  abusing  its  powers.  That  Macaulay  of  all  men 
should  deny  this  is  wonderful "  (ii.  253). 

P.  6o,  1.  12.  eight  thousand  ...  more,  this  is  an  exaggeration; 
the  salary  was  1^5000  a  month  or  £6000  a  year. 

11.  23,4.  since  Jefferies  ...  Tower,  the  infamous  judge  whose 
cruelty  in  the  'bloody  assize,'  after  Monmouth's  rebellion,  is  un- 
paralleled in  history.  The  name  is  properly  'Jeffreys,'  not 
1  Jefferies. '  On  James's  flight  he  was  thrown  into  the  Tower  by 
the  supporters  of  William  the  Third. 

11.  33,  4.  walk  the  plank,  a  mode  of  punishment  common  among 
pirates,  who  obliged  their  captives  to  walk  up  a  plank  of  wood 
balanced  on  the  vessel's  bulwarks  which  tilted  downwards  with 
their  weight  and  launched  them  into  the  sea. 

P.  6 1, 1.  1.  corsair,  pirate;  F.  corsair  e,  literally  one  who  makes 
the  course  or  cruise. 

11.  5-7.  if  they ...  usurped,  these  powers  of  course  did  not  be- 
long to  him  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  they 
were  not  in  any  sense  usurped,  but  were  legally  conferred  upon 
him  by  Hastings. 

I.  13.  Francis  ...  arrangement,  Francis  "protested  that  the 
government  were  conceding  to  their  enemy  all  that  they  had 
been  fighting  for  "  ;  ...  and  ' '  departed  for  England  with  a  fresh 
store  of  accusations  against  both  Hastings  and  Impey,  which  he 
so  used  as  to  procure  Impey's  recall  by  Lord  Shelburne's  Ministry 
on  this  very  charge,  and  to  increase  the  growing  distrust  and 
uneasiness  in  Parliament  regarding  the  Governor-General's  pro- 
ceedings" (Lyall,  p.  115). 

II.  32,  3.  verbal  communication,  strictly  speaking  this  should 
be  'oral  communication,'  for  a  communication  by  means  of  words 
may  be  made  in  writing  as  well  as  in  speaking. 

P.  62,  1.  7.  They  met,  and  fired,  "  they  met  at  a  spot  still  well 
remembered  in  Calcutta  tradition  [near  the  present  Cathedral], 


NOTES.  161 

taking  ground  at  a  distance  of  fourteen  paces,  measured  out  by 
Colonel  Watson,  one  of  the  seconds,  who  said  that  Charles  Fox 
and  Adams  had  fought  (1779)  at  that  distance;  although  Hastings 
observed  that  it  was  a  great  distance  for  pistols.  The  seconds 
had  baked  the  powder  for  their  respective  friends  [the  duel  took 
place  in  the  rainy  season],  nevertheless  Francis'  pistol  missed 
fire.  Hastings  waited  till  he  had  primed  again  and  missed, 
when  he  returned  the  shot  so  effectively  that  Francis  was  carried 
home  with  a  ball  in  his  right  side.  The  remarkable  coolness  of 
Hastings  was  noticed ;  he  objected  to  the  spot  first  proposed  as 
being  overshadowed  by  trees ;  and  probably  those  were  right 
who  inferred  from  his  behaviour  that  he  intended  to  hit  his 
man"  (Lyall,  pp.  Ill,  2). 

1.  30.  a  Mahommedan  soldier,  Haidar  Ali. 

1.  33.  extraction,  origin,  family. 

I.  34.  dervise,  or  ■  darwesh,'  a  wandering  mendicant. 

P.  63,  11.  4,  5.  the  qualities  ...  statesman,  the  qualities  that  go 
to  the  making  up  of  a  great  general  or  a  great  statesman. 

II.  6,  7.  the  fragments  . . .  wreck,  the  various  principalities  sub- 
ordinate to  the  emperor,  which,  when  the  empire  broke  up,  fell 
into  a  state  of  anarchy  and  confusion. 

11.  9,  10.  Louis  the  Eleventh,  who  reigned  from  1461  to  1483, 
was  one  of  the  greatest  French  kings,  whether  in  matters  of  war 
or  those  of  peaceful  administration.  When  he  died,  he  had 
assured  the  unity  of  France  and  her  preponderance  in  Europe. 

11.  23-5.  Unhappily  . . .  repel  it,  his  hostility  was  provoked  first 
by  the  capture  in  1779  of  Mahe,  the  only  settlement  remaining  to 
the  French,  in  whose  defence  Haidar's  troops  had  taken  part,  and 
still  more  so  by  the  march  of  a  British  force  through  a  strip  of 
his  own  country. 

11.  28-30.  those  wild  passes  ...  Carnatic,  the  passes  of  the 
Western  Ghats. 

P.  64,  1.  1.  the  Coleroon,  or  Kolriin,  the  lower  branch  of  the 
Kaveri,  rising  in  Maisur  and  flowing  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

1.  3.  Mount  St.  Thomas,  about  six  miles  from  the  city  of 
Madras. 

1.  9.  tulip-trees,  a  species  of  Magnolia  introduced  from  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

1.  16.  Sir  Hector  Munro,  see  note,  p.  27,  1.  22. 

1.  25.  tanks,  open  reservoirs  of  water  common  in  India. 

1.  32.  coast  of  Coromandel,  running  along  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

P.  65,  1.  1.  the  south-west  monsoon,  the  periodical  wind  blow- 
ing in  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  on  the  two  monsoons,  that  from  the 
south-west   in   the   summer   and   that    from   the   north-east   in 


162  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

winter,  India  is  dependent  for  its  rain ;  the  word  monsoon  is 
from  the  Arabic  mansim,  season. 

1.  7.  accommodated,  settled  by  some  compromise.  The  ar- 
rangements were  made  through  the  medium  of  the  Raja  of 
Berar,  and  two  thousand  Maratha  horse  were  lent  to  Pearse's 
column,  despatched  from  Bengal  to  join  Coote.  The  Maratha 
chief,  Mudaji,  was  himself  converted,  in  Hastings'  words, 
"from  an  ostensible  enemy  to  a  declared  friend." 

1.  14.  the  incapable  ...  St.  George,  Whitehill. 

P.  66, 11.  14,  5.  that  labyrinth ...  alleys,  narrow  streets  through 
which  it  is  difficult  to  find  one's  way,  and  in  which  the  buildings 
are  so  lofty. 

1.  16.  oriels,  the  word  is  generally  used  for  a  recess  [with  a 
window]  in  a  room,  but  also  for  a  portico  or  for  a  small  room.  It 
is  in  the  first  of  these  senses  apparently  that  Macaulay  uses  the 
word,  as  he  does  in  his  Essay  on  Bacon,  where  he  speaks  of  "the 
fair  pupils  of  Ascham  and  Aylmer  . . .  who,  while  the  horns  were 
sounding  and  the  dogs  in  full  cry,  sat  in  the  lonely  oriel,  with 
eyes  rivetted  to  that  immortal  page  which  tells  how  meekly  and 
bravely  the  first  great  martyr  of  intellectual  liberty  took  the  cup 
from  his  weeping  gaoler. "  Skeat  says  the  word  is  derived  from 
the  Lat.  aureolum,  gilded  or  ornamented  with  gold,  from  the 
custom  of  gilding  certain  apartments  :  the  sacred  apes,  in  India 
apes  are  considered  sacred  on  account  of  their  monkey-god, 
Hanuman. 

1.  18.  holy  mendicants,  the  faqirs  with  whom  India  abounds: 
holy  bulls,  the  Brahmanical  bulls ;  they  are  turned  out  as  a 
sacrifice  to  Siva,  and  thus  become  a  sort  of  special  consecration. 

1.  33.  Petit  Trianon,  there  were  two  Trianons,  the  grand 
Trianon,  an  elegant  little  chateau,  in  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe, 
of  one  storey,  built  by  Louis  XIV.  for  Madame  de  Maintenon  ; 
and  the  Petit  Trianon  built  by  Louis  XV.  for  Madame  du  Barry, 
and  afterwards  the  favourite  resort  of  Marie  Antoinette,  Queen 
of  Louis  XVI.  ;  in  a  later  edition  Macaulay  substitutes  "  Ver- 
sailles "  for  Petit  Trianon :  muslins  of  Bengal,  especially  from 
Dacca. 

1.  34.  sabres  of  Oude,  for  the  inlaying  of  which  the  Lucknow 
artizans  were  famous. 

1.  35.  Golconda,  in  Haidarabad,  formerly  famous  for  its  diamond 
mines  :  shawls  of  Cashmere,  these  shawls,  still  so  famous,  are 
made  from  the  wool  of  the  Thibet  goat. 

P.  67, 1.  1.  Hindoo  prince,  Chait  Sing  was  nothing  more  than  a 
large  zaminddr,  or  landholder,  whose  father,  the  first  Raja,  be- 
came a  vassal  of  the  Nawab  Wazir  of  Oudh.  Like  all  other  large 
zaminddrs,  he  was  bound  by  long  custom  and  written  agreement 


NOTES.  163 

to  aid  the  English,  to  whom  his  fief  had  been  made  over  by  the 
Nawab,  with  men  and  money  in  times  of  extraordinary  need. 
The  turn  of  Macaulay's  sentence  would  make  it  appear  that  there 
had  been  a  long  line  of  princes  of  this  family,  whereas  in  reality 
Chait  Sing  was  only  third  in  descent  from  an  adventurer  who 
had  ousted  his  own  patron  from  the  lands  he  held  as  zaminddr 
under  the  Mughal  rule. 

1.  36.  kept  his  head  ...  might,  maintained  his  position  by  any 
means  that  lay  in  his  power. 

P.  68,  11.  2,  3.  The  time  ...  empire,  at  the  deposition  of  Charles 
the  Fat  in  887. 

1.  5.  Hugh  Capet,  Duke  of  Francia,  was  crowned  king  at 
Rheims  in  987,  and  took  the  title  of  Bex  Francorum,  king  of  the 
Franks. 

1.  6.  Duke  ...  Normandy,  the  Duke  of  Normandy  was  one  of  the 
vassals  of  Hugh  Capet,  and  he  in  his  turn  claimed  homage  of  the 
Duke  of  Brittany. 

1.  11.  ordinances . . .  Tenth,  his  three  ordinances  of  1 830  destroyed 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  dissolved  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and 
restricted  the  franchise. 

1.  15.  Prince  Louis  Bonaparte,  afterwards  Emperor  Napoleon 
III. ,  who  twice  made  an  attempt  to  seize  the  kingdom  of  France, 
first  at  Strasburg,  and  afterwards  at  Boulogne. 

I.  24.  he  was  a  captive,  in  the  hands  of  the  Marathas. 

II.  34,  5.  de  facto,  in  reality  :  de  jure,  by  right. 

P.  69,  1.  2.  prescription,  that  title  which  long  possession  of 
anything  gives  to  its  continued  enjoyment.  This  tenure  is  the 
modern  equivalent  of  the  Roman  *  usucapion,'  according  to  which 
"commodities  which  had  been  uninterruptedly  possessed  for  a 
certain  period  became  the  property  of  the  possessor"  (Maine, 
Ancient  Law,  p.  284). 

1.  24.  a  mere  pageant,  a  mere  show,  mere  appearance  with  no 
reality  behind  it.  Originally  the  word  pageant  meant  a  moveable 
scaffold  such  as  was  used  in  the  representation  of  the  old  mystery 
or  miracle  plays,  plays  embodying  some  of  the  events  and  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

1.  26.  play  at  royalty,  play  at  being  a  sovereign  by  keeping  up 
kingly  ceremonial  and  show,  but  exercising  no  power. 

1.  30.  legerdemain,  literally,  sleight  of  hand,  hence  dexterity 
in  handling  a  subject. 

1.  31.  sophistry,  disingenuous  reasoning. 

P.  70,  11.  2,  3.  no  appeal . . .  force,  no  power  to  which  applica- 
tion can  be  made  to  decide  the  question,  no  possible  solution 
except  a  resort  to  physical  force. 


164  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

11.  9-11.  It  had  formerly ...  subject,  this  is  not  a  fact.  Chait 
Sing  had  always  been  a  vassal,  and  the  terms  of  his  vassalage 
had  been  enforced. 

11.  16-8.  He  had  ...  Clavering,  especially  he  had  sent  a  messenger 
to  congratulate  Clavering  on  his  temporary  accession  to  the 
Governor-Generalship. 

11.  30-5.  Hastings  took  ...  concealment,  the  money  was  twice 
offered  to  Hastings.  At  first  he  refused  it.  When  the  offer  was 
repeated,  he  accepted  the  money,  directing  it  to  be  received  by 
the  sub-Treasurer  of  the  Council  and  deposited  in  his  name, 
intending  to  convert  it  to  a  public  use.  In  November  he  com- 
municated the  fact  to  the  Court  of  Directors,  and  as  soon  as 
Francis,  whose  interference  in  the  matter  he  was  desirous  of 
preventing,  had  left  India,  he  at  once  carried  the  money  to  the 
public  accounts.  That  he  had  no  intention  of  keeping  it  for 
himself  is  shown  by  his  openly  avowing  its  receipt  to  his  friend 
Sullivan  in  August  of  the  same  year. 

P.  71,  1.  5.  pleaded  poverty,  besides  the  rich  treasure  stored 
up  in  his  coffers,  he  had  a  revenue  of  half  a  million  sterling. 

11.  11-5.  Hastings  ...  government,  there  is  no  evidence  that 
Hastings  wished  to  fasten  a  quarrel  on  the  Raja.  It  was  on  the 
advice  of  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
Council,  that  Hastings  in  1780  called  upon  him  to  furnish  two 
thousand  horse  for  the  public  service.  The  Raja  offered  to 
furnish  five  hundred  and  as  many  match-lock  men,  but  even 
these  were  not  forthcoming,  though  his  body-guard  alone  was 
larger  than  the  force  which  Hastings  required  of  him. 

11.  22-5.  The  plan...  possessions,  there  is  nothing  whatever  to 
show  that  Hastings  would  not  have  been  satisfied  if  his  original 
demands  had  been  complied  with. 

11.  29,  30.  he  began  ...  Oude,  this  statement  again  is  made 
without  any  evidence  to  confirm  it. 

1.  35.  sixty  miles,  to  Baxar  on  the  Ganges. 

P.  72,  1.  11.  to  be  arrested,  he  was  not,  as  the  words  would 
seem  to  imply,  placed  in  confinement,  but  was  simply  told  to 
consider  himself  under  arrest  in  his  own  house,  a  guard  of 
sepoys  being  sent  to  prevent  his  escaping. 

1.  20.  the  Delta  of  the  Ganges,  that  portion  of  eastern  Bengal 
in  which  Calcutta  is  situated,  the  home  of  the  Bengalis  whom 
Macaulay  speaks  of  as  living  "  in  a  constant  vapour  bath." 

P.  73, 1.  1.  the  Black ...  Calcutta,  the  native  quarter  of  Calcutta. 

1.  9.  The  sepoys  were  butchered,  the  sepoy  guard  had  nothing 
but  unloaded  muskets  and  no  ammunition. 

1.  26.  the  English  cantonments,  at  Cawnpore,  Chunar,  and 
Lucknow. 


NOTES.  165 

I.  35.  the  envoy,  Colonel  Muir,  who  was  then  negotiating  with 
Sindhia. 

P.  74,  11.  4,  5.  An  English  . . .  judgment,  Mayaffre,  who  made  a 
rush  upon  the  Raja's  fortified  palace  at  Ramnagar  without 
waiting  for  Popham,  and  with  Captain  Doxatt,  thirty-three 
"rangers,"  and  almost  all  the  sepoys  of  Blair's  battalion,  per- 
ished in  the  attempt. 

II.  13,  4.  The  entire  ...  arms,  in  a  few  days  Chait  Sing  had 
mustered  an  army  of  40,000  men  within  ten  miles  of  Chunar,  to 
which  Hastings  had  retreated. 

I.  18.  imposts,  taxes,  but  here  used  as  =  to  unjust  taxes. 

II.  31,  2.  His  fastnesses  ...  stormed,  the  capture  of  the  fortress 
of  Bijaigarh  put  an  end  to  the  brief  campaign. 

I.  35-P.  75, 1.  2.  One  of  his  ...  pensioner,  "his  zemindari  estates 
were  declared  to  be  forfeited,  and  were  bestowed  on  a  grandson 
of  Bulwunt  Singh  ;  from  whom  they  have  descended  to  the 
present  Maharajah  of  Benares,  a  very  loyal  and  distinguished 
nobleman  "  (Lyall,  p.  126). 

II.  19,  20.  under  the  skilful ...  government,  so  far  as  this  is 
true,  it  was  due  to  "the  hard  conditions  imposed  by  the  Francis 
faction  in  1775  "  whereby  he  * '  was  sinking  deeper  and  deeper 
into  the  Company's  debt.  In  six  years  that  debt  had  risen  to  a 
million  and  a  half,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  British  garrisons 
which  alone  stood  between  the  Wazir  and  general  anarchy " 
(Trotter,  p.  181).  To  Francis  and  his  colleagues,  moreover, 
it  was  due  that  Asaf-ud-daula  was  compelled  to  surrender 
the  two  millions  sterling,  which  Shuja  had  stored  up,  to  the 
Queen-mother,  who  claimed  them  under  a  will  that  was  never 
produced.  Hastings  had  at  the  time  steadily  refused  his  sanc- 
tion to  these  proceedings,  and  was  therefore  not  disinclined  by  a 
reversal  of  the  policy  he  had  condemned  to  assist  Asaf-ud-daula 
to  recover  what  had  been  unjustly  taken  from  him. 

P.  76, 1.  3.  the  contracting  parties,  the  Nawab  and  the  British 
government  who  had  made  the  contract. 

11.  26,  7.  Such  a  difference  . . .  compromise,  it  seemed  impossible 
that  when  the  wants  of  each  party  were  so  diametrically  opposed, 
any  arrangement  could  be  come  to  by  which  each  would  be 
satisfied. 

1.  33.  robbers.  If  the  term  is  to  be  used  it  applies  more  justly 
to  the  Queen-mother  than  to  Asaf-ud-daula. 

P.  77,  11.  1,  2.  been  left ...  dotation,  this  was  a  landed  estate 
which  yielded  the  Queen-mother  fifty  thousand  pounds  a  year. 

1.  7.  Fyzabad,  a  city  in  Oudh,  about  60  miles  east  of  Lucknow. 

1.  9.  the  Goomti,  a  tributary  of  the  Ganges. 


160  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

11.  11,  2.  Asaph-ul-Dowlah  ...  mother,  the  Nawab  had  not  "ex- 
torted ' '  any  sums  from  the  Begam.  He  obtained  one  loan  from  her 
of  twenty-six  lakhs  of  rupees  for  which  he  gave  her  an  estate  of  four 
times  the  value,  and  another  loan  of  thirty  lakhs  on  account  of 
his  patrimony,  for  which  he  gave  her  a  full  acquittal  as  to  the 
rest,  and  secured  her  estates  to  her  without  interference  for  life. 

11.  15,  6.  he  in  his  turn  ...  rights,  he  had  never  committed  any 
invasion  of  her  rights. 

11.  18-20.  the  power ...  them,  Hastings,  as  already  stated,  had 
always  opposed  the  arrangement  made  so  much  to  the  advantage 
of  the  Begams  at  the  expense  of  the  Nawab,  and  having  now 
proof  that  they  had  helped  Chait  Sing  with  men  and  money,  and 
fomented  insurrection  against  their  own  sovereign,  he  felt  that 
they  deserved  small  mercy  at  the  Nawab's  hands.  He  therefore 
gave  his  assent  to  the  resumption  of  the  estates  held  by  them, 
but  pledged  the  Nawab  to  grant  his  kinswomen  liberal  pensions 
in  exchange  for  the  military  fiefs  which  they  had  no  right  to  hold. 
The  Nawab  was  a  weak  creature  ;  his  mother  a  woman  of  strong 
mind  and  violent  temper,  and  on  his  return  to  Lucknow,  his 
courage  began  to  fail  him.  He  had  gained  time,  and  probably 
thought  that  Hastings's  demand  for  payment  of  his  debt  to  the 
Company  might  be  evaded  for  the  present. 

11.  25,  6.  which  wither  ...  civilization,  which,  though  partially 
civilized,  instead  of  finding  in  such  civilization  the  strength  which 
goes  with  its  purer  forms,  are  only  enfeebled  by  it  when,  accom- 
panied by  corruption.  A  savage  state  of  life  may  still  be  strong 
and  healthy,  a  corrupt  half- civilization  has  all  the  elements  of 
weakness  and  none  of  the  elements  of  strength.  Macaulay  refers 
to  the  conditions  of  life  in  which  the  Nawab  was  living. 

11.  28,  9.  The  insurrection  . . .  Oude,  this  is  ingeniously  put  and 
would  make  it  appear  that  Hastings,  having  caused  the  insur- 
rection in  Benares,  was  indirectly  answerable  for  the  disturbances 
in  Oudh  ;  but  Macaulay  is  reversing  cause  and  effect,  for  Hastings 
had  proof  from  Hannay,  Middleton,  and  other  officers,  that  the 
Begams'  troops  had  aided  Chait  Sing,  and  that  numbers  of  people, 
horse  and  foot,  were  daily  sent  to  him  from  Faizabad.  This,  as 
regards  the  Company,  was  his  "pretext"  for  punishing  the 
Begams  ;  while,  as  regards  the  Nawab,  he  saw  in  the  disturbances 
fomented  by  them,  a  justification  for  their  being  made  to  disgorge 
that  which  they  had  unjustly  withheld  from  him. 

P.  78,  11.  12,  3.  His  mother  ...  implored,  rather  they  were 
stubborn  and  indignant,  and  the  Nawab  was  daunted  by  their 
resistance. 

11.  15-7.  Even ...  measures,  yet  in  his  letters  he  wrote  in  the 
strongest  terms  of  the  Bhao  Begam,  declaring  that  she  had 
'*  forfeited  every  claim  she  had  to  the  protection  of  the  British 


NOTES.  167 

government,"  and  Burke  afterwards  argued  that  his  charges 
against  her  were  brought  by  him  to  justify  spoliation.  I  cannot 
find  in  Forrest's  Records  any  mention  of  the  letter  from  Hastings 
which  Macaulay  says  was  "in  terms  of  greatest  severity,"  and 
according  to  Impey's  account,  he  was  directed  to  convey  to  the 
Resident  Hastings's  views  on  the  subject,  Hastings  saying  to 
Impey  that  ' '  he  was  apprehensive  the  mildness  of  Mr.  Middle- 
ton's  temper  would  prevent  him  from  urging  the  Nabob  effectually 
to  carry  it  [the  treaty  of  Chunar]  into  execution." 

1.  27.  resumed,  taken  back  by  the  Nawab. 

P.  79,  11.  20,  1.  an  English  government,  for  this  at  all  events 
Hastings  was  not  answerable,  though  Macaulay's  wording  of  the 
sentence  seems  intended  to  imply  it.  The  eunuchs  were  not  two 
"infirm  old  men";  one  of  them  was  seen  by  Lord  Valentia 
twenty  years  later,  and  was  then  "well,  fat,  and  enormously 
rich." 

1.  33.  under  duresse,  in  strict  confinement.  On  the  whole 
subject  of  the  eunuchs  and  the  Begams,  Mr.  Forrest  remarks, 
"  In  order  to  recover  the  treasure  the  Nawab  and  his  Ministers 
had  to  adopt  severe  measures  towards  the  two  eunuchs  who  had 
the  chief  influence  over  the  Begums.  The  cruelty  practised  by 
the  Nawab  and  his  servants  has  been  greatly  exaggerated,  but  it 
was  sufficient  to  have  justified  the  interference  of  the  Resident. 
To  have  countenanced  it  by  transmitting  the  orders  of  the  Vizier 
was  a  grave  offence.  But  for  what  took  place  Hastings  at  Cal- 
cutta cannot  be  held  responsible.  He  ordered  the  Resident  not 
to  permit  any  negotiation  or  forbearance,  but  there  is  a  wide 
gulf  between  legitimate  severity  and  cruelty. "  Nevertheless  it 
can  hardly  be  maintained  that  Hastings  took  sufficient  pre- 
cautions against  the  excesses  which,  knowing  the  Wazir's  char- 
acter, he  might  have  anticipated. 

P.  8o,  11.  12-29.  There  is  a  man  ...  biography?  in  his  revised 
edition  of  the  Essay,  Macaulay  omits  the  whole  of  this  passage. 

1.  30-P.  8 1,  1.  24.  But  we  must  not ...  India,  on  the  whole  of 
this  paragraph  see  Appendix  III. 

I.  1.  affidavits,  properly  the  third  person  singular,  perfect 
tense,  of  the  Low  Lat.  gffidare,  to  n^ke  oj-th. 

II.  18,  9.  in  an  irregular  manner,  he  not  being  able  to  give  it 
in  a  regular  manner  as  he  might  have  done  in  a  judicial  pro- 
ceeding. 

1.  20.  the  crimes  ...  him,  Macaulay  assumes  that  Hastings  had 
bribed  Impey  by  the  judgeship  in  the  Sadr  Diwani  Adalat,  and 
also  that  Impey  was  conscious  that  Hastings  had  been  guilty  of 
crimes  in  deposing  Chait  Sing,  and  entering  into  the  Chunar 
treaty. 


168  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

P.  82,  1.  7.  Lord  Advocate,  the  highest  judicial  functionary  in 
Scotland. 

11.  17-20.  The  votes  ...  justice,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
that  the  votes  they  helped  to  swell  were  dictated  by  stern 
justice,  if  it  was  to  the  interest  of  ministers  "to  show... 
themselves." 

1.  31.  the  Secretary  of  State,  Lord  Shelburne.  Impey,  how- 
ever, though  recalled,  was  not  dismissed  from  his  office.  He 
continued  to  hold  it  five  years  longer,  when  he  resigned.  It 
was  not  till  the  impeachment  of  Hastings  was  coming  on  that 
any  charge  was  brought  against  Impey. 

P.  83,  11.  23,  4.  thirteen  colonies,  afterwards  the  United  States 
of  America. 

1.  29.  Minorca,  an  island  in  the  Mediterranean :  Florida,  in 
the  south-east  of  North  America  :  Senegal,  in  Western  Africa : 
Goree,  a  small  island  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa. 

P.  84,  11.  3,  4.  if  we  may ...  India,  Macaulay  can  hardly  mean 
to  express  doubt  as  to  these  results  being  due  to  Hastings. 

I.  13.  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  king  of  France :  the  Emperor  Joseph, 
of  Austria. 

II.  14-6.  He  boasted . . .  creation,  his  words  were  in  his  defence 
before  the  House  of  Lords,  "Every  division  of  official  business,  and 
every  department  of  government  which  now  exists  in  Bengal,  . . . 
are  of  my  formation.  The  establishment  formed  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  revenue,  the  institution  of  the  courts  of  civil  and 
criminal  justice  in  the  province  of  Bengal  and  its  immediate 
dependencies,  the  form  of  government  established  for  the  pro- 
vince of  Benares  ...  were  created  by  me.  Two  great  sources  of 
revenue,  opium  and  salt,  were  of  my  creation  ...  To  sum  up  all, 
I  maintained  the  provinces  of  my  immediate  administration  in  a 
state  of  peace,  plenty,  and  security,  when  every  other  member 
of  the  British  empire  was  involved  in  external  war  or  civil 
tumult. " 

P.  85,  11.  3,  4.  the  depositaries  . . .  traditions,  those  who  from 
long  familiarity  with  the  modes  of  procedure  in  their  respective 
offices  are  able  to  guide  the  Minister  in  all  technical  details. 

1.  6.  Downing  Street ...  House,  the  former  containing  the  chief 
political  offices  ;  the  latter,  the  Admiralty,  Inland  Revenue,  etc., 
offices. 

1.  12.  trammelled,  hampered  ;  a  ' trammel '  is  a  net,  shackle, 
anything  that  confines  or  restrains. 

1.  17.  hales  of  censure,  with  an  allusion  to  the  freight  of  vessels 
with  bales  of  cotton,  silk,  etc.,  such  as  were  exported  from  India. 

1.  21.  thwarted  ...  Deputies,  the  Deputies,  as  the  representatives 
of  our  Dutch  allies  in  the  war,  having  a  voice  in  the  operations  to 


NOTES.  169 

be  undertaken,  and  constantly  using  it  to  check  Marlborough's 
daring  designs  against  the  common  foe. 

11.  22,  3.  the  Portuguese  . . .  Percival,  Wellington  in  his  efforts 
to  expel  the  French  from  Spain  and  Portugal  being  similarly 
subject  to  interference  from,  and  inadequate  support  by,  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  Councils,  and  having  at  the  same  time  to 
put  up  with  the  dilatory  measures  of  Mr.  Percival,  then  Prime 
Minister,  in  supplying  him  with  reinforcements,  etc.,  and  the 
restrictions  put  upon  that  freedom  of  action  which  was  necessary 
to  success. 

11.  27,  8.  resembled  . . .  stupidity,  looked  like  that  dull  patience 
which  is  the  outcome  not  of  determination  but  of  inability  to  see 
that  there  is  anything  to  rebel  against. 

I.  34.  had  the  full...  resources,  the  resources  of  his  mind,  his 
quickness  in  discovering  the  best  way  out  of  a  difficulty,  were 
not  paralysed  by  outbursts  of  passion  or  impetuosity  of  desire. 

P.  86,  11.  16,  7.  at  the  expense  ...  powers,  the  other  powers  los- 
ing strength  in  proportion  as  one  single  power  is  developed. 

II.  17,  8.  speak  ...  abilities,  convey  by  their  excellence  in  speak- 
ing an  impression  of  greater  ability  than  is  really  possessed. 

I.  20.  a  little  ...  debater,  a  little  too  much  given  to  thinking 
that  statesmanship  is  best  shown  in  meeting  the  arguments  of 
opponents. 

II.  31,  2.  of  perplexing ...  understand,  of  wrapping  up  in  am- 
biguous and  intricate  language  that  which  he  did  not  wish  to  be 
seen  in  all  its  naked  plainness. 

I.  34.  with  some  reservation,  in  qualified  terms,  in  terms  not 
wholly  eulogistic. 

P.  87,  11.  1,  2.  Perhaps  ...taste,  Persian  literature  abounding 
in  flowery  and  ornate  language. 

II.  5,  6.  curious  researches,  inquiries  into  out-of-the  way  sub- 
jects. 

11.  6,  7.  His  patronage  ...  publications,  he  encouraged  with  a 
far-seeing,  and  in  the  best  sense  remunerative,  outlay  of  money, 
voyages,  etc. 

I.  12.  dotages,  drivelling  teachings. 

II.  13,  4.  transfused  ...  expositions,  not  coming  directly  from 
its  Greek  sources,  but  modified  by  the  interpretations  put  upon 
it  by  Arabian  commentators. 

1.  15.  a  far  ...  ruler,  Lord  William  Bentinck,  so  largely  aided 
by  Macaulay  himself. 

1.  17.  taken  from  a  ledger,  his  early  occupation  being  merely 
that  of  a  clerk  in  a  commercial  concern. 


170  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  26.  the  Asiatic  Society,  the  well-known  Society  in  Calcutta 
for  the  encouragement  of  all  branches  of  Oriental  learning. 

1.  28.  with  excellent . . .  feeling,  in  recognising  Sir  W.  Jones  as 
so  much  his  superior  in  Oriental  learning. 

1.  31.  Pundits,  men  learned  in  the  Sanskrit  language  and 
literature  ;  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word  is  merely  '  learned.' 

1.  34.  the  sacred  dialect,  Sanskrit. 

P.  88,  1.  4.  hereditary  priests,  the  Brahman  pandits. 

1.  18.  the  civil  service,  the  Company's  civil  administrators  as 
contrasted  with  the  Company's  army,  equally  its  servants. 

1.  28.  their  vernacular  dialects,  the  spoken  language  of  the 
people  as  contrasted  with  the  classical  language  of  their  litera- 
ture ;  vernacular,  literally  *  belonging  to  home-born  slaves,'  then 
1  native, '  '  indigenous. ' 

1.  31.  for  great  ends,  with  important  objects  in  view. 

P.  89,  11.  1,  2.  the  hurricane  ...  cavalry,  the  Maratha  cavalry 
that  swept  everything  before  it  as  effectually  as  a  hurricane ;  a 
metaphor  instead  of  a  simile. 

1.  2.  rich  alluvial  plain,  the  plain  fertilized  by  the  matter 
washed  down  by  the  great  river  running  through  it. 

1.  20.  much  . . .  children,  much  the  same  love  of  outward  pomp 
and  show  as  that  of  children. 

11.22-4.  and  nurses  ...  Hostein,  this  is  an  amusing  mistake. 
The  jingle  in  question  hdthi  par  hauda,  ghore  par  zin,  jaldi  jao, 
jaldi  jao,  Warren  Hastln,  i.e.  with  hauda  on  elephant,  saddle  on 
horse,  quickly  go,  quickly  go,  Warren  Hastings,  was  in  ridicule 
of  his  flight  from  Benares. 

P.  90,  1.  19.  indelicate  and  irregular,  such  as  a  man  with'  a 
delicate  sense  of  integrity  and  a  lofty  code  of  honour  would 
avoid.  / 

I.  28.  Carlton  House,  the  residence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
afterwards  George  the  Fourth,  notorious  for  the  splendour  and 
extravagance  of  its  decorations  and  festivities  :  Palais  Royal, 
formerly  a  palace  of  great  magnificence  in  Paris. 

II.  28-31.  He  brought  ...  salary,  his  salary  for  thirteen  years 
was  £25,000  a  year,  and  he  brought  home  about  £120,000,  in- 
cluding that  settled  on  his  wife,  amounting  to  £40,000,  which 
apparently  is  what  Macaulay  calls  her  "private  hoard," 

P.  91,  1.  12.  the  round-house,  the  stern  cabin :  Indiaman,  the 
name  formerly  given  to  vessels  trading  to  the  East  Indies. 

1.  13.  sandal-wood,  a  sweet-scented  wood  found  more  especially 
in  the  south  of  India;  a  French  corruption  of  the  Persian 
chandal. 


NOTES.  171 

11.  21,  2.  his  elegant  Marian,  her  Christian  name  was  Anna 
Maria  Apollonia. 

1.  23.  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  the  dignified  hero  of  Richardson's 
novel  of  that  title  :  Miss  Byron,  the  lady  of  his  love. 

1.  24.  the  cedar  parlour,  the  room  wainscotted  with  cedar  in 
Sir  Charles  Grandison's  home. 

P.  92,  11.  3,  4.   Horace's   ..  rogat,   the  opening  words  of  the 
sixteenth  ode  of  the  second  book  of  Odes  by  Q.  Horatius  Flaccus, 
the  Roman  poet.     The  following  is  the  first  stanza  : — 
w  For  ease  the  harassed  seaman  prays, 
When  equinoctial  tempests  raise 
The  Cape's  surrounding  wave  ; 
When  hanging  o'er  the  reef  he  hears 
The  cracking  mast,  and  sees,  or  fears, 
Beneath,  his  wat'ry  grave." 

1.  4.  Mr.  Shore,  Governor-General  of  India  from  1793  to  1798. 

1.  13.  paid  ...  Street,  called  upon  the  Board  of  Directors. 

1.  14.  Cheltenham,  in  Gloucestershire,  a  favourite  retreat  of 
Anglo -Indians  on  account  of  its  mild  climate.  ^\ 

1.  17.  incurred  much  censure,  for  receiving  at  Court  one  who 
had  been  divorced  from  her  husband.  A  fortnight  after  the  land- 
ing of  Mrs.  Hastings,  "she  was  presented  by  Lady  Weymouth 
to  King  George  the  Third  and  Queen  Charlotte.  Two  more 
weeks  passed,  and  she  was  again  received  by  their  Majesties  ; 
and  according  to  a  letter  that  was  written  to  Hastings  by  his 
agent,  Major  Scott,  ...  she  'met  with  still  greater  marks  of 
attention  if  possible '  . . .  The  friendliness  of  the  Queen  to  a 
divorcee  was  regretted  by  Colonel  Fairly  and  Captain  Price, 
two  of  the  King's  equerries,  and  defended  by  Mrs.  Schwelleng- 
berg,  the  Chief  Keeper,  and  Miss  Fanny  Burney,  the  Assistant 
Keeper  of  the  Queen's  Robes."  The  latter  "represented  to  the 
equerries  that  in  England  •  a  divorce  could  only  take  place  upon 
misconduct,'  whereas  in  Germany  'a  divorce  from  misconduct 
prohibited  a  second  marriage,  which  could  only  be  permitted 
where  the  divorce  was  the  mere  effect  of  disagreement  from  dis- 
similar tempers.'  The  equerries  said  that  they  had  never  heard 
this  before  ;  and  Colonel  Fairly  added,  that  ■  it  ought  to  be  made 
known,  both  for  the  sake  of  Mrs.  Hastings,  and  because  she  had 
been  received  at  Court,  which  gave  everybody  the  greatest  sur- 
prise, and  me,  in  my  ignorance,  the  greatest  concern  on  account 
of  the  Queen  ' "  (Sir  C.  Lawson). 

P.  93,  1.  16.  Hannibal,  the  great  Carthaginian  general  who  so 
nearly  succeeded  in  breaking  the  power  of  Rome  in  the  Punic  wars. 

1.  17.  Themistocles,  the  Athenian  commander,  famous  for  his 
victory  over  the  Persians  at  Salamis,  B.C.  480. 


172  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

11.  17-9.  His  very  ...  stumble,  he  reasons  on  wrong  premisses, 
and  therefore  the  greater  his  acuteness  the  further  it  carries  him 
from  a  just  conclusion.  The  fact  that  he  is  so  vigorous  causes 
him  to  proceed  at  a  pace  that  will  bring  him  to  the  ground, 
whereas  had  he  been  feeble,  he  would  have  taken  care  to  avoid 
the  obstacles  in  his  path. 

1.  22.  In  India  ..  hand,  a  metaphor  from  cards,  at  which  a 
hand  is  the  number  of  cards  dealt  to  a  player  ;  in  his  case  those 
were  bad  cards,  cards  not  likely  to  win  the  game. 

I.  23.  master  of  the  game,  thoroughly  skilled  in  all  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  game,  a  player  of  the  first  rank. 

II.  30-2.  one  of  the  few  ...  Commons,  the  eloquence  and  power 
of  argument  which  make  a  great  advocate  being  of  a  different 
character  from  those  which  make  a  great  debater  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

I.  34.  forensic  acuteness,  that  acuteness  which  is  most  useful 
in  a  law-court ;  the  Roman  forum  was  at  once  a  market  place, 
a  place  for  the  discussion  of  public  affairs,  and  the  site  of  the 
law-courts. 

P.  94,  1.  13.  He  was  ...  legs,  he  was  ever  getting  up  to  speak. 

II.  18-21.  There  was  hardly  ...  Scott,  Sir  A.  Lyall  quotes  the 
Eolliad,  "  Reams  and  reams  of  tracts  that  without  pain  Incessant 
spring  from  Scott's  prolific  brain." 

11.  23,  4.  pass  ...  pastry-cooks,  the  former  using  this  waste- 
paper  to  line  the  trunks  they  made,  the  latter  for  baking  their 
cakes  upon. 

1.  28.  temper,  frame  of  mind.  '  - 

P.  95,  1.  5.  Mr.  Fox's  ...  Bill,  introduced  in  1783  ;  Fox's  pro- 
posal was  to  transfer  the  political  government  from  the  Directors 
of  the  Company  to  a  board  of  seven  Commissioners,  whose  office 
was  to  be  held  for  five  years.  Its  rejection  brought  about  the 
fate  of  the  Shelburne  Ministry. 

L  15.  great  place,  office  of  Lord  Chancellor. 

I.  26.  The  resolution  of  censure,  that  carried  by  Dundas  ;  see 
above,  p.  82. 

II.  34,  5.  who  was  deeply  ...  subject,  who  by  his  action  in 
bringing  on  the  vote  of  censure  was  bound  to  oppose  any  honour 
being  done  to  Hastings. 

P.  96,  11.  1,  2.  the  committee  ...  affairs,  the  Board  of  Control. 

I.  3.  new  allies,  new  party  allies  ;  at  the  former  date  he  was  in 
alliance  with  Burke  and  his  supporters. 

II.  5,  6.  flattery  . . .  number,  not  even  those  most  inclined  to 
flatter  him  could  pay  him  the  compliment  of  saying  that  he  was 
consistent.  ' 


NOTES.  173 

1.  19.  affect  ,..  game,  help  to  secure  the  political  results  they 
desired. 

I.  20.  The  followers  of  the  coalition,  the  Whig  supporters  of 
Fox  coalesced  with  the  Tories  who  still  clung  to  Lord  North, 
with  the  object  of  overturning  the  Shelburne  Ministry, — "the 
most  unscrupulous  coalition,"  says  Green,  "  known  in  our 
history." 

II.  23,  4.  The  wits  of  Brooks's,  Brooks's  Club  in  St.  James's 
Street,  the  great  Whig  Club  which  numbered  amongst  its  mem- 
bers Sheridan,  Burke,  Fox,  Garrick,  and  many  other  men  of 
great  wit  and  humour. 

1.  27.  a  certain  . . .  "bed,  it  appears  that  the  present  was  one  of 
two  ivory  chairs,  quaintly  carved  and  gilded,  each  with  five  legs, 
not  an  ivory  bed,  though  Hastings  in  his  letters  speaks  of  an 
"  ivory  cot "  which  he  had  in  India. 

1.  34.  swinging,  from  the  gallows. 

1.  36.  Virgil's  third  eclogue,  the  eclogues  of  P.  Vergilius  Maro, 
the  author  of  the  Aeneid,  are  bucolic  poems  in  imitation  of  the 
Sicilian  poet,  Theocritus.  The  third  eclogue  is  a  rustic  singing- 
match  between  two  shepherds. 

P.  97,  1.  5.  galaxy  of  jewels,  jewels  which  in  their  number  and 
brilliancy  resembled  the  Milky  Way  in  the  heavens ;  galaxy,  from 
Gk.  7a\a,  milk. 

1.  6.  her  necklace  . . .  votes,  her  necklace,  the  bright  gems  in 
which  were  to  be  used  in  bribing  voters  in  the  House  of  Commons 
to  support  Pitt,  and  so  her  husband's  cause. 

1.  7.  and  the  depending . . .  ears,  the  ear-rings  she  wore,  which 
were  to  be  turned  to  the  same  use ;  depending  is  used  in  a  double 
sense,  literally,  hanging  as  the  ear-rings  hung  from  her  ears, 
figuratively,  of  questions  yet  to  be  decided.  Sir  A.  Lyall  quotes 
the  Probationary  Ode  to  which  Macaulay  refers — 

M  Oh  Pitt,  with  awe  behold  tha't  precious  throat 
Whose  necklace  teems  with  many  a  future  vote ! 
Pregnant  with  Burgage  gems  each  hand  she  wears, 
And  lo  !  depending  questions  gleam  upon  her  ears." 
"Burgage"  is  a  freehold  property  in  a  borough;  also,  a  house 
or  other  property  held  by  burgage  tenure,  i.e.  tenure  held  of 
the  king  or  other  lord  for  a  certain  yearly  rent,  and  "Burgage 
gems "  means   gems  which  by  their  value  would  give  a  right 
to  a  vote  for  a  borough  equally  with  the  possession  of  freehold 
property. 

*     11.  19, 20.  with  as  much  . . .  allow,  using  against  him  the  bitterest 
terms  that  parliamentary  courtesy  would  permit. 
1.  35.  fall  of  the  coalition,  see  note,  p.  96,  1.  20. 


174  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

P.  98,  1.  9.  alienated  from  Fox,  with  whom  Burke  quarrelled 
on  the  subject  of  the  French  Revolution. 

11.  10,  1.  preaching  ...  republic,  endeavouring  to  stir  up  in 
others  the  same  bitter  hatred  that  he  himself  felt  towards  the 
French  republic. 

1.  22.  Las  Casas  or  Clarkson,  the  former  a  Catholic  bishop, 
who  spent  many  years  among  the  South  American  Indians,  and 
made  every  effort  to  save  them  from  the  cruelty  of  the  Spanish ; 
the  latter  a  Quaker,  to  whom,  with  Wilberforce,  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade  was  due. 

1.  24.  the  infirmity  . . .  nature,  if  Macaulay  refers  to  any  partic- 
ular infirmity,  he  probably  means  the  intolerance  of  such  men 
towards  those  less  enthusiastic  than  themselves. 

1.  36.  sensibility,  quickness  of  feeling,  which  enabled  him  to 
throw  himself  into  the  position  and  manner  of  life  of  others. 

P.  99,  1.  9.  coloured  them,  gave  them  a  vividness  which  did 
not  belong  to  them  in  the  state  in  which  they  came  to  him ; 
lighted  them  up  with  the  colour  that  a  painter  gives  to  a  pencil 
sketch. 

I.  15.  abstractions,  things  which  exist  only  in  idea,  abstracted 
from  all  material  embodiment. 

II.  17,  8.  the  huge  trees,  Macaulay  is  referring  especially  to 
the  piped  trees  to  be  found  in  every  village  of  Upper  India,  and 
which  are  to  the  villagers  what  the  oaks  are  in  England. 

1.  20.  tracery,  delicate  carved  outline  :  mosque,  or  masjid,  the 
temple  of  Musalmans  :  imaum,  or  imam,  the  Muslim  priest. 

1.  21.  face  to  Mecca,  the  mas j id  always  faces  east  towards 
Mecca,  the  sacred  city  in  Arabia  in  which  Muhammad  was  born : 
gaudy  idols,  painted  and  gaily  decked  ;  the  idols  are  those  of  the 
Hindus,  the  Musalmans  abjuring  anything  of  the  kind,  so  much 
so  that  they  object  even  to  the  statues  of  men. 

1.  22.  devotees  . . .  air.  a  reference  to  the  charaJc-puja,  in  honour 
of  the  goddess  Kali,  in  which  the  devotee  is  suspended  in  the  air 
by  an  iron  hook  through  the  fleshy  part  of  the  back. 

I.  24.  the  yellow  . . .  sect,  worn  in  the  centre  of  the  forehead. 

II.  25,  6.  silver  maces,  the  chobs  borne  before  princes  and  great 
men  :  the  elephants  ...  state,  the  haudas  of  elephants  belonging 
to  princes  are  often  plated  with  silver,  and  have  gorgeous  canopies 
over  them. 

1.  27.  the  close  litter,  this  is  the  same  as  the  palki  or  palanquin, 
but  its  doors  are  always  kept  close  to  prevent  the  inmates  from 
being  seen. 

1.  30.  Beaconsfield,  Burke's  country  residence  in  Buckingham- 
shire. 


NOTES.  175 

1.  32.  laid  gold,  the  nazar,  or  customary  offering  of  gold  coins 
made  at  a  public  darbdr  or  at  private  interviews. 

I.  33.  gipsy  camp,  though  the  gipsies  originally  came  from 
India,  Macaulay  here  means  nothing  more  than  wandering  tribes 
generally. 

II.  35,  6.  where  the  lonely . . .  hyaenas,  in  those  parts  in  which 
the  mails  are  carried  by  runners,  the  bag  is  still  slung  on  a  pole 
with  bells  or  iron  rings  to  frighten  away  wild  animals. 

P.  loo,  1.  2.  Lord  ...  riots,  the  'No  Popery'  riots  in  London, 
in  1780,  headed  by  Lord  George  Gordon,  a  fanatical  Protestant. 
They  lasted  for  many  days ;  gaols  were  broken  open,  and  many 
houses  belonging  to  Catholics  burnt  to  the  ground. 

I.  3.  Dr.  Dodd,  hanged  in  June,  1777,  for  forging  a  bond  of 
Lord  Chesterfield's. 

II.  20,  1.  A  young ...  House,  Burke  first  entered  Parliament  in 
1765. 

1.  24.  the  Stamp  Act,  the  Act  which,  in  1765,  obliged  the 
American  colonists  to  affix  a  stamp  on  all  legal  documents  issued 
within  the  Colonies,  the  value  of  the  stamp  being  paid  to  the 
British  revenue. 

11.32,3.  the  Commercial  Treaty  ...  Versailles,  concluded  by 
Pitt  in  1787 :  the  Regency,  rendered  necessary  by  the  King's 
becoming  insane  :  the  French  Revolution,  in  1789. 

P.  ioi,  1.  4.  the  Bastile,  the  prison  in  Paris  used  especially  for 
political  offenders ;  burnt  down  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

I.  5.  Marie  Antoinette,  the  queen  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  exe- 
cuted during  the  Revolution,  1793.  Burke's  impassioned  language 
regarding  the  Revolution  never  rose  to  a  greater  height  than  in 
his  famous  passage  on  the  wrongs  of  this  unfortunate  woman. 

II.  21,  2.  they  would  ...  gold,  would  have  given  every  facility 
for  retreating  from  their  engagement  to  impeach.  The  phrase 
"to  build  a  bridge  of  gold"  is  said  to  have  been  first  used  by 
Philip  of  Macedon  in  his  war  with  the  Athenians. 

11.  22,  3.  Major  Scott ...  year,  it  was  believed  by  many  at  the 
time  that  if  Scott  had  never  written  or  spoken  in  the  House  of 
Commons  in  behalf  of  Hastings,  there  would  have  been  no 
impeachment. 

1.  34.  papers,  the  necessary  documents  on  which  to  found  and 
support  his  charges. 

P.  102,  11.  3-5.  They  had  been ...  pamphlet,  Sir  J.  Stephen's 
opinion  on  this  matter  differs  widely  from  Macaulay 's,  "It  is 
impossible,"  he  says,  "to  imagine  anything  worse  of  their  kind 
than  the  articles  which  he  preferred  against  Hastings.  . . .  An 


176  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

accusation  ought  to  state  directly,  unequivocally,  and  without 
going  into  either  argument  or  evidence,  that  at  such  a  time  and 
place  the  person  accused  has  done  such  and  such  things,  thereby 
committing  an  offence  against  such  and  such  a  law.  The  articles 
of  impeachment  against  both  Hastings  and  Impey  violated  every 
one  of  these  obvious  rules.  Instead  of  being  short,  full,  pointed, 
and  precise,  they  are  bulky  pamphlets  sprinkled  over  with 
imitations  of  legal  phraseology.  They  are  full  of  invective, 
oratorical  matter,  needless  recitals,  arguments,  statements  of 
evidence — everything  in  fact  that  can  possibly  serve  to  make  an 
accusation  difficult  to  understand  and  to  meet  ...  they  are  as 
shuffling  and  disingenuous  in  substance,  as  they  are  clumsy, 
awkward,  and  intricate  in  form."... 

11.  22,  3.  a  paper . . .  length,  Hastings  had  only  five  days  in 
which  to  write  this  paper. 

I.  26.  It  fell  flat,  it  did  not  produce  that  effect  for  which 
Hastings  hoped  ;  though  Hastings  himself  mistook  the  deference 
with  which  it  was  heard  for  approval,  and  wrote  to  a  friend  in 
India,  "  It  instantly  turned  all  minds  to  my  own  way." 

II.  31,  2.  the  clerks  and  the  Sergeant-at-arms,  i.e.  the  officers 
of  the  House  who  could  not  leave  till  the  sitting  was  over. 

1.  36-P.  103,  1.  3.  for  Dundas  ...  Rohilcund,  and  therefore  the 
members  of  the  Ministry  to  which  Dundas  belonged  could  not 
well  oppose  the  charge. 

1.  23.  coffee-houses,  the  forerunners  of  the  modern  clubs. 

1.  28,  9.  the  star  of  the  Bath,  except  the  order  of  the  Garter, 
the  highest  of  English  orders  of  knighthood. 

1.  29.  sworn...  council,  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the  council 
which  gives  advice  to  the  sovereign,  and  which  is  bound  to  keep 
its  proceedings  secret. 

1.  36.  from  taking  ...  peerage,  from  inquiring  the  king's  wishes 
as  to  the  signing  of  a  patent  conferring  a  peerage.  / 

P.  104,  1.  12.  felicity  of  language,  skilful  choice  of  words ;  so 
we  say  *  in  happy  terms' ;  '  felicity  '  and  ■  happy '  suggesting  that 
the  result  attained  was  in  a  measure  due  to  good  fortune. 

1.  16.  contumaciously,  out  of  mere  obstinacy  and  without  any 
good  reason. 

P.  105,  1.  10.  during  sixty  years,  the  last  impeachment  being 
that  of  Harley  in  1716. 

1.  16.  vindicating . . .  honour,  asserting  the  national  honour 
by  the  punishment  of  those  who  had  cast  a  stain  upon  it. 

1.  19.  atoned  for,  the  literal  sense  of  'atone'  is  to  make  at  one, 
to  reconcile  ;  here  the  meaning  is  '  compensated. ' 


NOTES.  177 

P.  1 06,  1.  7.  works  of  supererogation,  works  over  and  above 
those  that  a  man  is  called  upon  to  perform. 

1.  13.  the  usual  notes,  circulars  sent  out  by  the  party  ■  whip  * 
in  the  case  of  a  division  in  the  House  on  a  matter  of  importance. 

1.  18.  closeted  with  him,  shut  up  with  him  in  private  con- 
sultation. 

P.  107,  1.  1.  as  a  man  of  conscience,  with  any  regard  for  con- 
scientiousness. 

I.  2.  The  business  ..,bad,  Hastings's  behaviour,  he  said,  was 
such  as  could  not  be  passed  over  without  censure. 

II.  23,  4.  to  submit . . .  functions,  to  endure  that  any  of  his 
subordinates  should  take  upon  himself  a  duty  that  belonged  to 
the  Prime  Minister  alone.  "On  the  whole,"  says  Sir  A.  Lyall, 
"  it  is  a  reasonable  conclusion  that  Pitt  and  Dundas  . . .  did  resolve, 
after  private  consultation,  not  to  stand  between  Hastings  and 
his  powerful  accusers  at  the  risk  of  some  loss  of  political  character 
and  some  strain  upon  their  ascendency  in  the  House  and  the 
country." 

1.  33.  The  prorogation,  of  Parliament  till  the  next  session. 

P.  i«S,  1.  6.  below  the  bar,  below  the  barrier  within  which  sit 
the  Members  of  the  House.  Nowadays  there  is  a  gallery  in  the 
House  called  *  The  Peers'  Gallery,'  in  which  the  Peers  gather  on 
the  occasion  of  any  important  debate. 

I.  16.  Mr.  Windham,  see  Macaulay's  description  of  this  states- 
man, p.  114,  11.  1-4. 

II.  27,  8.  his  friends  ...  down,  by  coughing  and  scraping  their 
feet  on  the  floor  the  House  prevented  Hastings's  friends  from 
being  heard. 

P.  109,  1.  5.  carried,  brought ;  not  literally  carried. 

11.25-8.  that  in  the  ordinary ...  prosecutor,  Macaulay,  in 
assenting  to  this  argument,  overlooks  the  fact  that  "the  aggrieved 
party  "  is  seeking  a  remedy  for  a  personal  wrong,  for  which  no 
one  but  himself  will  seek  redress,  while  the  managers  appointed 
by  the  House  were  supposed  to  be  actuated  by  no  personal  con- 
siderations but  merely  to  have  the  interests  of  justice  at  heart 
and  to  seek  the  maintenance  of  the  honour  of  the  country  as 
vested  in  its  hands. 

J    P.  no,  1.  7.  cloth  of  gold,  cloth  embroidered  and  interwoven 
with  gold  threads. 

11.  16,  7.  with  every  ...  contrast,  these  talents  and  accomplish- 
ments were  enhanced  on  the  one  hand  by  the  way  in  which  those 
of  each  of  the  managers  were  supplemented  by  those  of  the  rest, 
and  on  the  other  hand  by  the  prominence  which  contrast  gave  to 
individuality. 


178  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  23.  from  right  to  left,  this  of  course  applies  only  to  Persian 
and  Hindustani,  not  to  Sanskrit  and  its  derivatives,  such  as 
IJindi  and  Bengali. 

^    1.  32.  just  sentence  of  Bacon,  passed  upon  him  in  1621  for 
taking  bribes  when  Lord  Chancellor. 

1.  33.  just  absolution  of  Somers,  Somers  was  impeached  in 
1701,  with  Russell  and  Montague,  for  his  share  in  the  Partition 
Treaties  by  which  it  was  sought  to  avoid  the  difficulties  of  the 
Spanish  succession  on  the  death  of  Philip  III.  of  Spain.  The 
House  of  Commons,  however,  would  not  appear  to  prosecute,  and 
the  House  of  Lords  declared  him  acquitted. 

I.  34.  Strafford,  Earl,  impeached  and  beheaded  in  1641  for 
counselling  Charles  I.  to  adopt  illegal  measures. 

P.  in,  11.  4,  5.  robed  ...  ermine,  with  their  robes  of  ermine  fur 
and  their  coronets  on  their  heads. 

II.  5,  6.  Garter  King-at-arms,  the  head  of  the  College  of 
Heralds  ;  see  note  on  page  103, 1.  28. 

11.  8,  9.  three  f ourths  . . .  then  was,  their  numbers  are  much 
greater  now. 

1.  15.  Earl ...  realm,  this  dignity  has  been  hereditary  in  the 
family  since  the  time  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Norfolk,  younger  son  of 
Edward  I. 

1.  17.  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  King  George  the  Fourth. 

I.  29.  Siddons,  Mrs.  Sarah,  the  celebrated  tragic  actress  of  the 
period. 

II.  31,  2.  the  historian...  Empire,  Gibbon,  Edward,  author  of 
The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

11.  32,  3.  when  Cicero . . .  Verres,  among  the  more  famous  of 
Cicero's  orations  are  those  against  Verres,  who  as  propraetor  of 
Sicily  had  been  guilty  of  great  extortion  and  cruelty. 

11.  34-6.  Tacitus... Africa,  Tacitus,  whose  fame  is  greater  as  a 
historian  than  as  an  orator,  was  in  the  reign  of  Nerva,  a.d.  99, 
appointed  together  with  the  younger  Pliny,  to  prosecute  Marius, 
proconsul  of  Africa. 

P.  H2,  1.  1.  Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  a  famous  portrait-painter  of 
the  time,  and  intimate  friend  of  Johnson  and  Burke. 

1.  4.  Parr,  Samuel,  a  learned  classical  scholar. 

I.  5.  that  dark  . . .  mine,  ancient  classical  literature 

II.  9-11.  the  voluptuous  ...  faith,  Mrs.  Fitzherbert,  who  was 
privately  married  to  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

1.  12.  the  Saint  Cecilia,  Mrs.  Sheridan  for  her  skill  in,  and  love 
of,  music,  was  painted  by  Reynolds  in  the  character  of  St.  Cecilia, 
according  to  the  legend,  a  Roman  virgin  of  rank,  who  embraced 


NOTES.  179 

Christianity  in  the  reign  of  Antoninus.  She  Is  said  to  have  in- 
vented the  organ,  and  she  was  canonized  as  the  guardian  saint  of 
music.     See  Dry  den's  two  odes  in  honour  of  St.  Cecilia's  day. 

11.  14-7.  There  were ...  Montague,  Mrs.  Montague,  with  Mrs. 
Vesey  and  Mrs.  Ord,  held  re-unions  at  which  in  place  of  the 
usual  card-playing  they  endeavoured  to  encourage  intellectual 
and  literary  conversation.  One  of  the  habitues  of  these  gather- 
ings always  wore  blue  worsted,  instead  of  black  silk,  stockings, 
and  in  reference  to  this  Admiral  Boscawen  is  said  to  have  dubbed 
the  coterie  the  '  Blue  Stocking  Society.' 

11.  17-20.  And  there  ...  Devonshire,  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire 
with  a  band  of  lady  friends  canvassed  for  Fox  when  he  stood  for 
Westminster,  and  the  Duchess  gained  the  vote  of  an  obstinate 
opponent,  a  butcher,  by  allowing  him  to  kiss  her ;  the  persuasive- 
ness of  Fox's  lips  was  of  course  in  his  eloquence:  against... 
treasury,  the  king  and  the  ministry  being  opposed  to  Fox. 

1.  21.  made  proclamation,  citing  Hastings  before  the  Commons.' 

1.  22.  culprit,  the  word  is  more  generally  used  of  a  convicted 
person. 

1.  36.  Mens  ...  arduis,  a  mind  serene  amidst  difficulties. 

P.  113,  1.  2.  proconsul,  properly  one  who  acted  for  a  consul, 
but  in  later  times  one  who  at  the  close  of  his  consulship  in  Rome 
became  governor  of  a  province,  or  military  commander  under  a 
governor. 

1.  11.  Vice-chancellor  ...  Rolls,  judges  of  the  Court  of  Chancery 
subordinate  to  the  Lord- Chancellor ;  Rolls,  literally  of  parchment, 
hence  public  records. 

1.  16.  in  full  dress,  in  the  dress  worn  at  court,  black  velvet 
coat,  knee-breeches,  silk  stockings  and  bag- wig. 

1.  19.  a  bag,  a  small  silken  pouch  to  contain  the  back  hair  of  a 
wig. 

1.  22.  muster,  array. 

1.  31.  the  English ...  Hyperides,  two  great  orators  of  Athens,  the 
former  the  greatest  orator  the  world  has  known,  contemporaries 
and  friends. 

P.  114, 1. 1.  the  finest ...  age,  the  most  accomplished  and  highly-, 
bred  man  of  his  time. 

1.  9.  connection,  relationship  to  high-born  families. 

1.  13.  delegates,  persons  deputed  to  represent. 

1.  20.  the  tapestries  . . .  Lords,  destroyed  in  the  fire  by  which 
the  old  House  of  Lords  was  burnt  down,  October  16,  1834. 

1.  27.  silver  voice,  liquid  and  sweet-toned,  like  that  of  a  silver 
bell. 


180  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

P.  115,  1.  8.  the  stern  ...  Chancellor,  Lord  Thurlow,  a  warm 
admirer  and  friend  of  Hastings. 

11.  12,  3.  perhaps  ...  sensibility,  perhaps  glad  of  an  opportunity 
of  showing  how  capable  they  vrere  of  justly  appreciating  real 
eloquence,  and  how  full  they  were  of  delicate  feeling  for  injured 
persons. 

11.  17,  8.  the  old  arches  ...  oak,  "Westminster  Hall,  first  built 
by  William  Rufus,  was  almost  rebuilt  by  Richard  II.,  who 
added  the  noble  roof  of  cobwebless  beams  of  Irish  oak  ■  in  which 
spiders  cannot  live,'  which  we  now  see "  (Hare,  Walks  in 
London,  ii.  411). 

P.  116,  1.  10.  Mr.  Grey,  Charles  Grey,  afterwards  Lord  Grey, 
a  distinguished  Whig  politician,  Prime  Minister,  1830-4. 

11.  19-21.  Sheridan ...  envied,  his  father  having  been  an  actor. 
Of  Sheridan's  speech  Sir  A.  Lyall  remarks,  "  It  would  be  most 
presumptuous  to  suppose  that  Sheridan  did  not  know  how 
best  to  persuade  and  please  the  House  of  Lords ;  but  if  the 
summary  of  this  oration  has  been  fairly  given  in  Debrett's  history 
of  the  trial,  the  modern  reader  will  probably  be  startled  at  the 
quantity  of  declamation,  invocation,  metaphor,  humorous  illus- 
tration, and  caricature,  that  is  employed  to  throw  a  glaring  light 
upon  a  sufficiently  ill-favoured  business,  and  to  over-drive  the 
true  arguments  for  condemning  the  Governor-General's  part  in  it. 
No  one  in  these  days  uses  irony  and  bitter  sarcasm  against  a 
prisoner  on  his  trial,  nor  is  it  thought  fair  or  judicious  to  intro- 
duce grotesque  figures  of  speech  or  degrading  comparisons."  ... 

P.  117,  1.  1.  masquerade,  here  meaning  a  masked  ball,  or  a 
ball  generally. 

1.  5.  lacs,  a  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  :  crores,  the  sum  of  a 
million  pounds  :  zemindars,  land-holders. 

1.  6.  aumils,  governors  of  a  district  :  sunnuds,  certificates 
granting  a  title  to  something  or  other :  perwannahs,  documents 
under  the  hand  of  a  magistrate  conveying  orders  or  instructions  : 
jaghires,  landed  estates :  nuzzurs,  presents  to  persons  in  authority. 
These  words  would  now  be  written  lalch,  Jcaror,  zaminddr,  dmil, 
sanad,  parwdna,  jaegir,  nazar. 

1.  7.  bickerings,  ill-tempered,  contentious,  arguments. 

L  10.  Mr.  Law,  Edward,  afterwards  first  Lord  Ellenborough. 

1.  22.  the  King's  illness,  his  insanity. 

I.  26.  States -General,  the  representative  assembly  of  the  French 
people  summoned  during  the  Revolution,  and  afterwards  called 
the  National  Assembly  :  Versailles,  about  11  miles  from  Paris, 
where  the  Court  formerly  resided. 

II.  34,  5.  the  circuits  were  beginning,  the  judges  were  setting 


NOTES.  181 

out  on  their  tours  throughout  the  country,  and  therefore  could 
not  attend  to  give  their  decisions  on  points  of  law. 

P.  1 1 8,  1.  20.  law-lords,  judges  raised  to  the  peerage  and  so 
having  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

11.  24-7.  To  expect ...  indeed,  partridge-shooting  begins  on  the 
1st  of  September,  and  it  is  usual  for  Parliament  to  rise  for 
its  holidays  before  that  date.  Macaulay's  remark  is  of  course 
ironical. 

P.  119,  11.  2-4.  Those  rules  ...guilty,  Macaulay,  however,  does, 
not  mean  to  deny  that  in  ordinary  trials  the  nett  result  of  these  j 
rules  is  a  gain.  ~^ 

11.  10-11.  cannot  be  pleaded  ...  history,  cannot  be  used  as  an 
argument  to  upset  that  verdict  which  history  records,  a  verdict 
which  Macaulay  means  to  imply  was  in  the  main  condemnatory 
of  Hastings  :  in  bar  of,  in  law  a  bar  is  a  plea  or  objection  of 
force  sufficient  to  arrest  entirely  an  action  or  claim,  and  hence 
in  bar  of  is  used  of  an  objection  sufficient  to  prevent  or 
counteract  something.  — A 

1.  14.  some  violent  language,  Burke  had  said  that  Hastings 
had  murdered  Nand  Kumar  by  the  hands  of  Impey,  and  on  the 
petition  of  Hastings  to  the  House  of  Commons  complaining  of 
such  language,  that  House  resolved  that  Burke's  words  ought  not 
to  have  been  used. 

P.  120,  1.  18.  the  woolsack,  the  Lord  Chancellor's  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  originally  consisting  of  a  large  bag  of  wool  covered 
with  red  cloth,  but,  though  fashioned  like  a  seat,  having  neither 
back  nor  arms.  It  is  said  to  have  had  its  origin  in  the  circum- 
stance of  wool  being  anciently  a  staple  article  of  produce  in 
England. 

I.  23.  The  great  seal,  of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  which  on  state 
occasions  is  borne  before  that  official. 

II.  27,  8.  estranged  . . .  barons,  having  quarrelled  with  his  party 
and  no  longer  having  an"bfficial  seat  as  Lord  Chancellor,  he  was 
obliged  to  sit  with  the  rest  of  the  law-lords. 

P.  i2i,ll.  1-3.  It  had  been  ...  reproaches,  on  the  6th  May, 
1791,  Burke  rose  in  the  House  to  explain  himself  on  the  Revolu- 
tion in  France.  "  He  had  no  sooner  risen,  than  interruptions 
broke  out  from  his  own  side,  and  a  scene  of  great  disorder 
followed.  Burke  was  incensed  beyond  endurance  by  this  treat- 
ment, for  even  Fox  and  Windham  had  taken  part  in  the  tumult 
against  him.  With  much  bitterness  he  commented  on  Fox's 
previous  eulogies  of  the  Revolution,  and  finally  there  came  the 
fatal  words  of  severance.  *  It  is  indiscreet,'  he  said,  [  at  any 
period,  but  especially  at  my  time  of  life,  to  provoke  enemies,  or 
to  give  my  friends  occasion  to  desert  me.     Yet  if  my  firm  and 


182  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

steady  adherence  to  the  British  Constitution  place  me  in  such  a 
dilemma,  I  am  ready  to  risk  it,  and  with  my  last  words  to  ex- 
claim, "  Fly  from  the  French  Constitution." '  Fox  at  this  point 
eagerly  called  to  him  that  there  was  no  loss  of  friends.  '  Yes, 
yes,'  cried  Burke,  '  there  is  a  loss  of  friends.  I  know  the  price 
of  my  conduct.  I  have  done  my  duty  afc  the  price  of  my  friend. 
Our  friendship  is  at  an  end '  . . .  Fox,  as  might  have  been  expected 
from  his  warm  and  generous  nature,  was  deeply  moved,  and  is 
described  as  weeping,  even  to  sobbing.  He  repeated  his  former 
acknowledgment  of  his  debt  to  Burke,  and  he  repeated  his 
former  expression  of  faith  in  the  blessings  which  the  abolition 
of  royal  despotism  would  bring  to  France.  With  unabated 
vehemence  Burke  again  rose  to  denounce  the  French  Constitu- 
tion, ...  After  a  short  rejoinder  from  Fox,  the  scene  came  to  a 
close,  and  the  once  friendly  intercourse  between  the  two  heroes 
was  at  an  end"  (Morley,  Burke,  English  Men  of  Letters,  pp. 
181,  2). 

11.  7,  8.  Burke  ...  Windham,  Burke's  alarm  about  the  Revolution 
communicated  itself  to  Windham,  and  by  its  impetuosity  swept 
him  away  as  helpless  against  it  as  anything  floating  on  the 
waters  is  helpless  against  the  furious  eddy  of  a  whirlpool. 
Windham's  nature  was,  or  had  become,  irresolute  in  the  ex- 
treme ;  and,  like  all  irresolute  men,  when  once  he  had  made  his 
choice,  between  the  doctrines  of  Fox  and  those  of  Burke,  the 
impulse  to  which  he  had  yielded  carried  him  headlong  to  the 
utmost  depths,  and  his  alarm  was  greater  than  even  that  of 
Burke.  Sheridan  and  Grey  followed  Fox,  but  without  violence 
or  precipitation. 

1.  27.  remission,  abatement  of  violence  :  reaction,  an  impulse 
in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  towards  which  the  excitement  had 
before  been  directed. 

P.  122,  1.  9.  cuddy,  an  old  term  for  the  general  cabin  in  a 
merchant  vessel. 

1.  19.  numerous  addresses,  among  these  were  letters  '  of  friend- 
ship and  commiseration'  from  the  Begams  he  was  accused  of 
maltreating. 

1.  25.  Mahommedan  doctors,  i.e.  maulavis,  men  learned  in  law 
and  theology. 

1.  26.  collector,  the  chief  revenue  officer  of  a  district. 

1.  33.  apotheosis,  deification. 

P.  123,  1.  4.  fiends  ...  murder,  the  goddess  Kali,  or  Durga,  wife 
of  Siva,  who  presided  over  smallpox,  and  also  was  worshipped 
by  the  murderous  Thags. 

I.  6.  Pantheon,  temple  dedicated  to  all  the  gods. 

II.  13,  4.  The  legal  expenses,  "His  defence  had  cost  him,  or 


NOTES.  183 

rendered  him  liable  for  £100,000,  and  his  own  means  were 
exhausted,  and  his  wife's  accumulations  out  of  her  marriage 
settlement  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  failure  of  a  Dutch 
firm  "  (Sir  C.  Lawson). 

1.  23.  Logan,  a  Scotch  minister  who  wrote  a  pamphlet  in 
defence  of  Hastings,  and  was  prosecuted  in  consequence  by  the 
House  of  Commons. 

1.  25.  Simpkin's  letters,  entitled  "Letters  of  Simkin  on  the 
trial  of  Hastings,"  1791.  The  author  was  Captain  R.  Broome, 
who  called  himself,  "Simkin  the  Second." 

1.  28.  Anthony  Pasciuin,  "in  the  16th  century,  at  the  stall  of  a 
cobbler  named  Pasquin  [Pasquino],  at  Rome,  a  number  of  idle 
persons  used  to  assemble  to  listen  to  his  pleasant  sallies  ...  and 
indulge  in  raillery  at  the  expense  of  the  passers-by.  After  the 
cobbler's  death  the  statue  of  a  gladiator  was  found  near  his  stall, 
to  which  the  people  gave  his  name,  and  on  which  the  wits  of  the 
time,  secretly  at  night,  affixed  their  lampoons  "  (Haydn,  Diet,  of 
Dates,  quoted  by  Skeat).  Hence  the  word  pasquinade,  a  lam- 
poon, satire. 

1.  29.  The  private  hoards,  see  above,  p.  90,  1.  28-31. 

P.  124,  1.  1.  alienated,  which  had  passed  into  the  hands  of 
others. 

1.  5.  to  form  . . .  water,  to  lay  out  an  ornamental  lake. 

1.  16.  the  Board  of  Control,  the  government  board  which 
exercised  a  supervision  over  the  acts  of  the  Court  of  Directors. 

P.  125,  1.  2.  a  red  riband,  a  broad  sash  worn  by  knights  of 
the  order  of  the  Bath.- 

1.  3.  an  office  at  Whitehall,  an  official  appointment  from 
Government,  the  chief  offices  of  which  are  in  Whitehall. 

1.  7.  a  new  class ..  duties,  such  as  an  appointment  of  a  political 
character  in  England  would  entail. 

1.  17.  was  at  Boulogne,  mustering  his  troops  with  the  intention 
of  invading  England. 

I.  21.  important ...  power,  his  opposition  to  the  removal  of  the 
disabilities  which  lay  upon  Catholics. 

II.  24-6.  Religious  ...  Hastings,  such  want  of  toleration  on 
religious  matters  as  Addington  showed  in  regard  to  Catholics 
was  not  one  of  Hastings's  failings,  and  his  support  of  Addington 
could  not  consequently  have  been  due  to  that  cause. 

1.  36.  custard-apple,  a  fruit  about  the  size  of  a  ribstone  pippin, 
formed  in  the  inside  of  seeds  embedded  in  a  creamy,  or  custard- 
like, pulp. 

P.  126,  1.  2.  Allipore,  an  outskirt  of  Calcutta. 


184  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

1.  3.  leechee,  a  fruit  about  the  size  of  a  walnut,  with  a  rough 
shell  covering  an  opaque  white  pulp,  somewhat  like  the  white  of 
a  boiled  egg,  and  very  delicious  in  taste ;  originally  brought  from 
China. 

1.  5.  Covent  Garden,  the  great  fruit  and  flower  market  of 
London. 

1.  11.  Bootan,  an  independent  territory  on  the  north-eastern 
frontier  of  Bengal :  whose  tails,  these  fans,  called  chdoris, 
mounted  in  the  horns  of  deer,  are  used  by  table-servants 
at  meals,  or  by  grooms  at  the  back  of  carriages. 

1.  20.  Trissotin,  the  name  of  a  character  in  Moliere's  comedy 
of  Les  Femmes  Savantes,  half  man  of  fashion,  half  man  of  letters. 

1.  34.  the  reckoning,  the  price  to  be  paid. 

1.  35.  madrigal,  properly  a  pastoral  song,  Ital.  mandra,  a  flock, 
with  suffix  -gale,  pertaining  to. 

P.  127,  1.  5.  Dionysius,  the  younger,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  B.C. 
367-343,  whose  court  was  the  resort  of  philosophers  and  men  of 
letters. 

1.  6.  Frederic,  second  of  the  name,  King  of  Prussia,  and  com- 
monly entitled  "the  Great,"  who  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
literary  pursuits  and  aimed  at  being  thought  a  poet ;  1712-97. 

I.  8.  provincial  blue-stockings,  see  note  on  p.  112,  11.  14-7  ; 
provincial  is  used  to  mark  the  inferiority  in  intelligence  of  these 
blue -stockings  in  comparison  with  those  enjoying  the  more 
refined  and  intellectual  society  of  the  capital. 

II.  10,  1.  the  Hayleys  and  Sewards,  people  like  Hayley  and 
Seward,  very  third-rate  authors  who  once  enjoyed  considerable 
reputation. 

1.  30.  uncovered,  took  off  their  hats,  which  many  members 
wear  when  seated. 

P.  128,  11.  8,  9.  the  Sheldonian  Theatre,  the  Senate  House  at 
Oxford. 

I.  17.  the  Guildhall,  answering  to  the  Town  Hall  in  other 
towns  and  cities,  the  hall  where  the  different  guilds  or  com- 
panies of  the  city  meet  for  the  election  of  mayors,  sheriffs,  and 
burgesses,  and  further  used  as  a  court  for  the  administration  of 
justice  in  petty  cases,  and  as  a  banqueting  hall  for  civic  fes- 
tivities. The  present  building  was  begun  in  1411,  but  little  of 
the  original  structure  now  remains. 

II.  21-5.  his  Royal  ...  Asia,  the  Prince  Regent  in  presenting 
Hastings  to  these  monarchs  spoke  of  him  as  "the  most  deserving 
and  one  of  the  worst-used  men  in  the  Empire." 

P.  129,  11.  3-6.  the  Great  Abbey  ...  Hall,  Westminster  Abbey, 


NOTES.  185 

the  burial  place  of  so  many  of  England's  greatest  men ;  the  Great 
Hall,  Westminster  Hall,  i.e.  the  Houses  of  Parliament. 

11.8-13.  Yet  the  place ...  name,  "He  was  buried  near  his 
mother,  and  among  his  ancestors  for  many  generations,  in  a  new- 
vault,  close  behind  the  chancel,  which  is  marked  by  a  pillar 
bearing  an  urn  with  his  two  names  carved  upon  it,  and  sur- 
rounded by  iron  railings.  The  following  inscription  appears  on 
a  plain  tablet  within  the  church:  'In  a  vault  just  beyond 
the  eastern  extremity  of  this  church  lies  the  body  of  the  Right 
Honourable  Warren  Hastings,  of  Daylesford  House,  in  this 
parish,  the  first  Governor-General  of  the  British  Territories 
in  India,  a  member  of  His  Majesty's  Most  Honourable  Privy 
Council,  L.L.D.,  F.R.S.,  the  last  public  effort  of  whose  eminently 
virtuous  and  lengthened  life  was  the  re- erection  of  the  second 
edifice  [i.e.  the  rebuilding  of  Daylesford  Church],  which  he  super- 
intended with  singular  energy  and  interest  to  its  completion,  and 
in  which,  alas !  the  holy  rites  of  sepulture  were  very  shortly  after- 
wards performed  over  his  mortal  remains.  He  died  22nd  August, 
1818,  aged  85  years  and  8  months.  '  Lord,  now  lettest  Thou  Thy 
servant  depart  in  peace'"  (Sir  C.  Lawson).  His  widow  also 
erected  a  tablet  to  his  memory  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

1.  22.  He  had  founded  a  polity,  the  whole  administrative  system 
of  India  up  to  that  time  was  due  to  him. 

1.  23.  Richelieu,  1585-1642,  Cardinal  and  Duke,  the  great 
French  minister  of  state  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII. 

1.  24.  Cosmo,  de'  Medici,  1389-1464,  a  native  of  Florence, 
famous  as  a  munificent  patron  of  literature  and  art. 

1.  29.  in  the  fulness  of  age,  at  a  ripe  old  age,  in  his  eighty- 
sixth  year. 


APPENDIX  I. 

THE  ROHILLA  WAR. 

Of  the  twenty  charges  presented  by  the  managers  of  the  im- 
peachment of  Hastings,  that  of  the  Rohilla  War  was  the  strongest. 
It  was  intrinsically  strong  because  the  proceedings  of  Hastings 
had  undoubtedly  resulted  in  bloodshed  and  hardship.  It  was, 
for  the  purpose  of  the  impeachment,  adventitiously  strong  because, 
as  Macaulay  says,  "  It  had  been  condemned  by  the  Court  of 
Directors.  It  had  been  condemned  by  the  House  of  Commons. 
It  had  been  condemned  by  Mr.  Dundas,  who  had  since  become 
the  chief  minister  of  the  Crown  for  Indian  affairs."  The  three 
points  on  which  it  was  endeavoured  to  prove  Hastings  guilty 
were  (1)  that  for  such  a  war  there  was  no  justification,  (2)  that 
had  there  been  justification,  the  war  was  attended  with  un- 
necessary cruelty,  (3)  that  for  such  cruelty  Hastings  was 
answerable,  if  not  in  authorizing  it,  at  all  events  in  not  taking 
sufficient  precautions  against  its  committal  and  in  not  checking 
it  when  brought  to  his  notice. 

In  discussing  these  points  my  endeavour  will  merely  be  to  sum- 
marize as  clearly  and  as  briefly  as  possible  the  facts,  arguments, 
and  conclusions  of  the  exhaustive  work  recently  published  by  Sir 
John  Strachey  under  the  title  of  Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War. 
Sir  John  Strachey  speaks  with  perhaps  unrivalled  authority  not 
merely  because  he  has  studied  with  minute  care  every  narrative 
of  the  events  and  every  official  paper  that  bears  upon  them,  but 
because  during  a  long  period  of  service  in  Rohilkhand  he  was 
brought  into  close  contact  with  the  people  of  the  country  and  with 
the  descendants  of  those  who  were  supposed  to  be  so  cruelly 
treated.  That  the  two  were  not  identical  will  be  immediately 
shown.  "  Rohilkhand,"  says  Sir  John  Strachey,  "  has  an  area  of 
12,000  square  miles,  and  extends  from  Hardwar,  where  the  Ganges 
enters  the  plains  from  the  mountains,  along  the  foot  of  the  Gar- 
whal  and  Kumaon  Himalaya,  to  the  frontiers  of  Oudh,  a  distance 
of  nearly  200  miles.  It  is  now  one  of  the  richest  and  most  highly 
cultivated  parts  of  the  North -Western  Provinces ;  it  includes  six 

186 


APPENDIX  I.  187 

British  districts  and  many  large  towns,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
province  lies  the  small  native  state  of  Rampur,  with  about  half  a 
million  people,  ruled  by  a  Mahommedan  prince,  the  descendant 
and  representative  of  one  of  the  Rohilla  chiefs  of  whose  history  I 
am  about  to  write.  We  shall  not  find  in  the  plains  of  Rohilkhand 
the  '  fair  valleys '  of  Macaulay's  description  ;  his  '  snowy  heights ' 
at  the  sources  of  the  Ramganga,  the  chief  river  of  central  Rohil- 
khand, are  not  quite  so  imaginary,  but  the  beautiful  hills  from 
which  it  comes  are  hardly  more  snowy  than  those  at  the  sources 
of  the  Thames."*  Whoever  the  aborigines  of  this  tract,  the 
earliest  inhabitants  known  to  history  were  Hindus.  When,  with 
the  rest  of  northern  India,  it  became  a  province  of  the  Mughal 
empire,  many  grants  of  lands  were  given  to  Musalmans,  and 
during  their  occupation  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  people 
embraced  the  Muslim  religion.  The  country,  in  the  main  fertile 
and  well-wooded,  naturally  attracted  the  notice  of  the  hardy 
races  beyond  the  north-western  frontier,  and  the  Hindu  chiefs 
were  too  much  occupied  with  their  own  quarrels  to  present  a 
united  front  against  interlopers.  Thus,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  Rohillas,  for  the  most  part  Yusufzai 
Afghans,  had  made  themselves  masters  of  the  whole  of  Katehr, 

.as  it  was  formally  called,  and  given  it  the  name  it  still  bears. 

CJhe  word  "Rohilla"  means  merely  "mountaineer"  or  "high- 
lander,  "  though  it  presently  came  to  be  synonymous  with  Pathan 
or  Afghan.  It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  the  facts  of  this 
occupation,  because  Burke,  Mill,  and  Macaulay  have  all  insisted 
in  giving  the  title  of  "nation  "  to  a  band  of  foreigners  who  had 
no  better  claim  to  the  country  than  that  of  conquest,  very  recent  _ 
conquest,  their  rule  having  lasted  only  some  thirty-five  years.  J 
It  is  also  important  to  understand  the  character  of  these  invaders, 
and  their  relation  to  the  older  inhabitants  of  the  country.  Of 
their  character  Sir  J.  Strachey  remarks,!  that  "  when  they  have 
been  settled  for  several  generations  among  a  comparatively 
civilized  people  [they]  lose  in  a  great  measure,  but  by  no  means 
entirely  their  barbarous  characteristics,  but  the  Pathan  when  he 
first  entered  India  was,  as  he  still  is  in  his  native  mountains,  a 
ruthless  and  treacherous  savage.  The  character  which  these 
people  bore  in  the  last  century  was  so  precisely  that  which  they 
bear  now,  that  a  description  of  them  at  the  present  day  is  as 
applicable  as  it  would  have  been  in  the  time  of  Ali  Mohammad 
or  of  Hastings. "  He  then  quotes  from  Mr.  D.  Ibbetson's  Report 
on  the  Census  of  the  Punjab  (1881),  and  from  the  Hayat-i- Afghan, 
a  work  descriptive  of  the  people  of  this  tribe  on  the  Punjab 
frontier.  Though  these  authorities  give  the  Pathan  credit  for 
courage,  open-handed  hospitality,  an  air  of  masculine  independ- 

*  Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War,  p.  9. 
t  Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War,  pp.  22-7. 


188  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

ence,  a  high  sense  of  honour,  and  a  jealous  regard  for  the  honour 
of  their  women,  they  also  speak  of  him  as  being  bloodthirsty, 
cruel,  vindictive,  desperately  treacherous,  scornful  of  peaceful 
occupations,  invincibly  ignorant,  arrogant  to  a  degree,  boastful, 
avaricious,  devoid  of  all  notion  of  gratitude,  etc.,  etc.  "I  am 
far,"  continues  Sir  John,  "from  wishing  it  to  be  supposed  that 
all  the  Rohillas  were  savages  of  this  type.  Some  of  them  had 
been  settled  in  India  long  enough  to  give  them  a  tinge  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  some  of  their  chiefs  were  undoubtedly  deserving  of 
respect,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  historical  certainty  that  the  descrip- 
tions which  I  have  quoted  would  have  been  generally  applicable  to 
them ...  *  Agriculture  and  commerce,'  Macaulay  writes,  'flourished 
among  them,  "nor  were  they  negligent  of  rhetoric  and  poetry.' 
The  connection  of  the  Rohillas  with  agriculture  was  this,  that 
they  collected  the  rents  and  revenue  of  the  land  as  zemindars  or 
superior  landlords,  the  land  itself  being  left  in  the  occupation  of 
the  Hindu  cultivators ...  Middleton,  who  was  British  resident 
with  the  Vizier  during  the  whole  of  the  Rohilla  war,  speaking  of 
what  he  had  himself  seen  and  learned  by  personal  observation  in 
Rohilkhand,  stated  in  his  evidence  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
'the  Rohillas  never  applied  themselves  to  any  profession  but 
arms,  never  to  husbandry,  manufactures,  or  mechanic  arts.' " 
As  to  the  "  rhetoric  and  poetry"  of  Macaulay 's  idyllic  romance, 
there  appears  to  be  no  other  foundation  for  their  ascription  to 
the  Rohillas  in  general  than  the  fact  that  their  chief,  Hafiz 
Rahmat,  was  something  of  a  poet,  and  that  the  members  of  his 
family  were  men  of  education.  Of  the  relative  numbers  of  the 
Rohillas  to  the  Hindus  whom  they  conquered,  it  is  probable  that 
when  they  were  ejected  from  Rohilkhand  the  former  were  to  the 
latter  as  some  forty  thousand  to  a  million.  The  chain  of  events 
which  ultimately  led  to  British  intervention  was  as  follows.  In 
1759  the  Marathas  invaded  Rohilkhand,  and  the  Rohilla  chiefs 
asked  for  help  from  Shuja-ud-daula,  who,  rapidly  marching 
from  Lucknow,  drove  the  invaders  with  heavy  loss  across  the 
Ganges.  Twelve  years  later  the  Marathas  again  invaded  Rohil- 
khand. The  Wazir's  assistance  was  asked  as  before ;  and  having 
good  reason  to  believe  that  as  soon  as  Rohilkhand  had  been 
conquered,  his  own  territories  would  be  the  object  of  these 
insatiable  freebooters,  he  was  willing  enough  to  support  those  who 
by  their  geographical  position  formed  a  buffer  to  his  territory. 
He  was,  indeed,  so  greatly  alarmed  for  his  own  safety  that  he 
sought  to  engage  the  Company  in  some  concerted  defence  against 
a  danger  which,  not  without  reason,  he  represented  as  threaten- 
ing them  in  the  event  of  his  own  overthrow.  The  Calcutta 
authorities,  though  anxious  that  other  powers  should  resist  the 
Marathas,  were  unwilling  to  give  their  co-operation.  However, 
at  the  Wazir's  urgent  entreaty  they  sent  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
Sir  Robert  Barker,  to  report  on  the  circumstances,  and  ultimately, 


APPENDIX  L  189 

by  that  officer's  'active  intervention  and  persuasion,  a  treaty  of 
alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  was  concluded  between  the 
Wazir  and  the  Rohillas.  The  attestation  of  the  treaty  by  the 
English  General  was  looked  upon  by  both  parties  as  a  guarantee 
of  its  fulfilment,  and  as  such  Hastings  later  on  felt  bound  to 
regard  it.  Before  long  this  obligation  was  to  be  tested.  Internal 
dissensions  among  the  Rohillas,  and  particularly  the  defection  of 
one  of  their  principal  nobles,  Zabita  Khan,  who  before  the  end  of 
1772  openly  joined  the  Marathas,  so  alarmed  the  Wazir  that  he 
urgently  sought  the  protection  of  an  English  force.  Hastings 
consented  to  defend  Oudh,  but  refused  to  allow  the  English 
troops  to  go  beyond  the  Wazir's  frontiers,  or  to  engage  in  an 
offensive  war  against  the  Marathas.  The  following  year,  there- 
fore, Sir  R.  Barker,  with  a  brigade  consisting  of  two  battalions 
of  European  infantry,  six  battalions  of  sepoys,  and  a  company  of 
artillery,  marched  to  join  the  Wazir,  who  then  wrote  assuring 
Hafiz  Rahmat,  the  Rohilla  chief,  that  the  joint  force  would  soon 
arrive  to  assist  him  against  the  now  threatening  Marathas,  and 
urging  him  to  be  ready  to  co-operate  actively  in  the  common 
cause.  The  Rohilla  shilly-shallied,  entered  into  negotiations 
with  the  Marathas,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  joining  them 
against  the  Wazir.  Angered  by  the  apparent  treachery  of  his 
allies,  the  Wazir  sounded  SirR.  Barker  on  the  subject  of  [seizing 
upon  the  Rohilla  territory,  offering  large  concessions  to  the 
Company  if  it  would  lend  him  aid  to  his  project.  Before,  how- 
ever, such  a  proposal  could  be  considered,  Hafiz  Rahmat,  finding 
that  the  Marathas  would  not  risk  an  encounter  with  the  English, 
declared  to  the  Wazir  that  he  was  ready  to  carry  out  his  former 
engagements,  and  promised  to  lose  no  time  in  paying  the  instal- 
ments of  forty  lacs  of  rupees  due  under  the  treaty  of  the  preceding 
year  on  account  of  the  Wazir's  help.  For  some  time  the 
Marathas  lingered  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  Shuja-ud-daula  was 
dissuaded  by  Sir  R.  Barker  from  pressing  for  payment  lest 
Hafiz  Rahmat  should  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  invaders. 
On  their  final  disappearance,  the  Wazir  returned  to  the  subject, 
only  to  meet  with  evasions  from  the  Rohilla.  Before  long  it 
became  quite  evident  that  nothing  was  to  be  got  from  him  ;  and 
Hastings,  who  had  never  doubted  that  safety  to  Oudh  and  to  the 
British  possessions  was  possible  only  "by  giving  to  the  dominions 
of  the  Vizier  their  natural  boundaries,  and  including  within  one 
ring-fence  the  whole  of  Rohilkhand  and  Oudh,"  now  felt  that  the 
time  had  come  for  seriously  considering  Shuja-ud-daula's  pro- 
posal. He  therefore  offered  an  interview,  and,  the  Wazir 
eagerly  agreeing,  this  took  place  at  Benares  on  the  19th  of 
August,  1773.  The  result  was  a  treaty  concluded  on  the  7th  of 
September.  Of  this  treaty  the  first  portion  had  reference  only 
to  the  cession  of  Kora  and  Allahabad  to  the  Vizier  on  payment 
of  fifty  lakhs  of  rupees,  and  with  this  matter  we  are  not  here 


190  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

concerned.     As  regards  Rohilkhand,  the  following  are  the  terms 
agreed  upon  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  Council  in  Calcutta  : 

"  "Whereas  the  Rohilla  chiefs,  in  the  month  of  June  1772,  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  the  Vizier,  in  the  presence  and  with  the  con- 
currence of  General  Sir  Robert  Barker,  by  which  they  engaged  to  pay 
him  forty  lakhs  of  rupees  for  his  assistance  against  the  Marathas,  and 
which  treaty  they  have  treacherously  broken ;  it  is  therefore  agreed 
that  a  Brigade  of  the  Company's  forces  shall  join  the  Vizier,  and 
assist  to  punish  them,  and  that  he  shall  pay  the  whole  of  its  expense. 
By  a  Brigade  is  meant :  two  battalions  of  Europeans,  one  company  of 
Artillery,  and  six  battalions  of  Sepoys,  and  the  expense  is  settled  at 
Sonaut  Rupees  210,000  per  month.  The  Company's  troops  shall  not 
cross  the  Ganges,  nor  march  beyond  the  foot  of  the  hills.  The  Vizier 
shall  retain  as  his  own  that  part  of  the  Rohilla  country  which  lies  on 
the  north-east  side  of  the  Ganges,  but  in  consideration  of  the  Com- 
pany's relinquishing  all  claim  to  share  in  the  said  country,  although 
it  is  to  be  conquered  by  their  joint  forces,  the  Vizier  engages  to  make 
them  an  acknowledgment  of  forty  lakhs  of  rupees,  and  in  future  to 
defray  the  whole  expense  of  the  Company's  troops,  agreeable  to  the 
data  above-mentioned,  whenever  he  has  occasion  for  their  assistance, 
notwithstanding  it  is  stipulated  in  the  second  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Allahabad,  concluded  by  the  Vizier  and  the  Company  on  the  16th 
August,  1765,  that  he  shall  pay  only  their  extraordinary  charges."... 

The  remainder  of  the  draft  is  not  material,  its  two  other 
clauses  dealing  only  with  the  time  for  which  the  brigade  shall  be 
at  the  Vizier's  disposal,  and  the  details  of  payment.  Everything 
seemed  now  to  be  settled.  Shuja-ud-daula,  however,  on  a  further 
consideration  of  the  liabilities  he  had  undertaken,  felt  doubtful 
as  to  the  prudence  of  an  immediate  invasion  of  Rohilkhand,  and 
Hastings  readily  assented  to  a  postponement  of  operations. 
Further,  as  no  final  conclusion  had  been  arrived  at,  Hastings,  on 
his  return  to  Calcutta,  though  recording  the  wish  of  the  Wazir 
for  assistance  'in  subjugating  Rohilkhand,  thought  it  more 
prudent  not  to  state  to  the  Council  how  far  the  negotiations  had 
gone.  A  few  weeks  later  the  Wazir  reopened  the  subject  in 
two  letters  to  Hastings,  the  latter  letter  definitely  asking  for  a 
fulfilment  of  the  agreement  entered  into  at  Benares,  and  being 
accompanied  by  a  separate  paper  summarizing  his  proposals  in 
the  following  terms  : — "  On  condition  of  the  entire  expulsion  of 
the  Rohillas,  I  will  pay  to  the  Company  the  sum  of  forty 
lakhs  of  rupees  in  ready  money  whenever  I  shall  discharge  the 
English  troops,  and  until  the  expulsion  of  the  Rohillas  shall  be 
effected  I  will  pay  the  expenses  of  the  English  troops, — that  is  to 
say  I  will  pay  the  sum  of  Rs.  210,000  monthly."  On  the  day 
after  this  letter  was  received,  Hastings  and  the  Select  Committee 
of  the  Council  recorded  a  resolution  in  assent  to  the  Wazir's 
proposals,  and  Hastings  was  empowered  to  answer  his  letters, 
setting  forth  in  full  and  explicit  terms  the  conditions  on  jwhicn 


APPENDIX  I.  191 

the  required  assistance  would  be  granted.  Before,  however, 
sending  this  answer,  it  was  decided  that  in  a  matter  so  important 
the  whole  of  the  proceedings  should  be  considered  by  the  Council 
at  large.  For  three  successive  days  the  matter  was  debated  by 
nine  out  of  the  ten  members.  Much  diversity  of  opinion  was 
shown,  no  two  members  agreeing  on  all  points.  At  last  Hast- 
ings was  authorized  to  draw  up  a  resolution  expressing,  as  well 
as  he  was  able,  the  general  view.  The  resolution  thus  prepared, 
and  accepted  by  the  whole  Council,  approved  of  Hastings's 
answer  already  mentioned,  but  at  the  same  time  recorded  a 
hearty  wish  "  to  avoid  the  expedition  proposed,"  great  doubt  as 
to  its  present  expediency,  and  a  hope  that  the  stringency  of  the 
conditions  imposed  would  drive  the  Wazir  into  a  refusal  of 
them.  At  the  same  time  the  Council  confirmed  the  resolution  of 
the  Committee  drawn  up  on  the  19th  of  October,  "that  the 
2nd  Brigade  now  quartered  at  Dinapore  be  ordered  to  march 
on  the  Vizier's  requisition,  ...  and  that  every  preparation  be 
made  for  putting  the  2nd  Brigade  in  readiness  to  take  the  field 
on  the  shortest  notice."  On  the  10th  of  January,  1774,  an 
answer  was  received  from  the  Wazir  declining  to  undertake  the 
expedition  under  the  terms  offered.  Less  than  a  month  later  he 
again  changed  his  mind,  agreed  to  all  the  conditions  upon  which 
the  co-operation  of  a  British  force  was  to  be  obtained,  and  asked 
that  a  brigade  might  be  at  once  ordered  to  join  him  and  take 
part  in  the  proposed  expedition.  It  now  became  impossible  for 
the  Bengal  Government  to  refuse  consent.  Colonel  Champion, 
who  on  Sir  R.  Barker's  retirement  from  the  service  had  been 
appointed  provisional  Commander-in-Chief,  was  directed  to  as- 
sume command  of  the  troops,  already  on  their  way  to  join  the 
Wazir,  and  was  informed  that  the  object  of  the  expedition  was 
the  reduction  of  the  Rohilla  country  lying  between  the  Ganges 
and  the  mountains.  Colonel  Champion's  powers  were  strictly 
confined  to  the  military  conduct  of  the  expedition,  the  manage- 
ment of  all  political  relations  with  the  Wazir  being  entrusted  to 
Middleton,  then  the  Company's  Agent  at  the  Court  of  Lucknow. 
The  British  force  consisted  of  one  company  of  artillery,  the  2nd 
European  regiment,  the  select  picket,  consisting  of  about  a 
hundred  cadets  waiting  for  their  commissions,  and  the  2nd 
Brigade  composed  of  six  battalions  of  native  infantry  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Galliez.  The  Wazir 's  army  is  said  to  have 
numbered  100,000  men.  On  the  near  approach  of  these  forces  to 
the  Rohilla  frontier,  the  chief,  Hafiz  Rahmat,  became  anxious  to 
enter  into  negotiations  with  Shuja-ud-daula.  The  latter  de- 
manded a  large  sum — according  to  Champion  two  karors  of 
rupees — for  the  aid  he  had  given  the  Rohillas  against  the 
Marathas.  Hafiz  Rahmat  wrote  more  letters,  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  made  any  endeavour  to  meet  the  Wazir's 
demands  even  in  part,  or  to  have  offered  any  basis  for  nego- 


f 


192  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

tiation,  even  if  there  had  been  a  desire  on  the  Wazir's  part  for  an 
amicable  arrangement.  But  no  such  desire  existed.  The  time 
for  negotiation  had  passed,  and  Shuja-ud-daula  was  determined 
upon  having  vengeance.  The  two  armies  met  on  the  23rd  of 
April,  1774,  at  Miranpur  Katra  in  the  Shahjahanpur  district 
with  the  result  narrated  by  Macaulay.  One  point  in  that 
narrative  needs  a  passing  notice.  "The  dastardly  sovereign 
of  Oude,"  we  are  told,  "fled  from  the  field."  This  statement 
is  based  upon  Champion's  charge  of  "shameful  pusillanimity" 
against  the  Wazir.  But  Champion  seems  to  have  borne  no  good 
will  towards  that  prince,  of  whom  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  writes 
that  "  whatever  were  his  faults,"  he  "  was  never  before  accused 
of  cowardice"  ;  and,  says  Sir  J.  Strachey,  "  The  official  returns 
of  killed  and  wounded  seem  to  make  it  probable  that  the  Vizier's 
infantry  took  a  larger  share  in  the  action  than  might  be  supposed 
from  Colonel  Champion's  despatch,  for  while  the  loss  of  the  Com- 
pany's English  and  native  troops  was  132,  that  of  the  troops  of 
the  Vizier,  not  including  his  cavalry  for  which  there  is  no  return, 
was  254." 

We  now  come  to  the  results  of  the  victory,  to  Macaulay's 
picture  of  the  cruelties  to  which  the  Rohillas  were  subjected, 
and  to  the  share  imputed  to  Hastings  in  those  cruelties.  On  the 
death  of  Hafiz  Rahmat,  Faizullah  Khan,  the  eldest  surviving 
son  of  AH  Muhammad  became  the  acknowledged  head  of  the 
Rohillas.  "Faizullah  Khan,"  says  Sir  John  Strachey,  "lost 
no  time  in  endeavouring  to  open  negotiations  with  the  com- 
mander of  the  English  forces  and  the  Vizier,  and  towards  the 
end  of  May  he  sent  an  envoy  to  Colonel  Champion  with  definite 
proposals."  In  these  proposals  large  sums  of  money  were 
offered  to  the  English  and  to  the  Wazir  on  condition  that  the 
whole  of  Rohilkhand  should  be  given  up  by  them  to  him.  The 
Wazir  and  Hastings  scornfully  rejected  these  offers  ;  and  as 
Faizullah  Khan  still  remained  in  arms,  it  was  decided  to  attack 
him  in  order  to  bring  the  war  to  an  end.  When,  however,  the 
advanced  hosts  of  the  English  were  within  a  mile  of  those  of 
the  Rohillas,  Faizullah  again  opened  negotiations.  The  result 
was  a  treaty  concluded  on  the  7th  October,  1774,  between  the 
Wazir  and  Faizullah,  and  attested  by  Colonel  Champion.  "It 
provided,"  says  Sir  J.  Strachey,  "that  Faizullah  Khan  should 
retain  possession  of  the  territory  formerly  allotted  to  him  in 
Rohilkhand  by  his  father  Ali  Mohammad,  with  the  city  and 
district  of  Rampur.  ...  It  was  stipulated  that  Faizullah  Khan 
should  retain  in  his  service  a  force  of  not  more  than  5,000  men, 
that  he  should,  if  called  on  to  do  so,  render  certain  military 
services  to  the  Vizier,  and  enter  into  no  correspondence  with 
any  powers  excepting  the  Vizier  and  the  English.  Faizullah 
Khan,  it  was  further  provided,  'shall  send  the  remainder  of 
the  Rohillas   to  the   other  side   of  the  river '  . . .  Immediately 


APPENDIX  I.  193 

after  the  signature  of  the  treaty,  the  Vizier  o,nd  the  English 
withdrew  their  forces  ;  Faizullah  Khan  went  with  his  5,000  men 
to  Rampur,  and  assumed  quiet  possession  of  the  country 
assigned  to  him  ;  the  rest  of  the  Rohilla  troops  marched,  under 
the  command  of  some  of  their  chiefs,  across  the  Ganges  into 
the  district  of  Zabita  Khan,  their  countryman.  The  number 
of  Rohillas  who  thus  left  Rohilkhand  is  said  by  Hamilton  to 
have  been  17,000  or  18,000.  According  to  Colonel  Champion 
it  was  about  20,000,  including  camp  followers.  Many  of  the 
Rohilla  soldiers  entered  the  service  of  Zabita  Khan,  and  many 
soon  returned  to  Rohilkhand,  and  obtained  employment  with 
Faizullah  Khan  or  in  the  army  of  the  Vizier.  No  Rohillas 
except  those  under  arms  with  Faizullah  Khan  were  compelled 
to  cross  the  Ganges ;  the  rest  were  unmolested,  and  either 
remained  in  their  former  homes  or  settled  in  the  Rampur  State. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  misgovernment  or  absence  of 
government  in  Rohilkhand  after  the  fall  of  the  Rohilla 
dominion,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  either  at  this  or 
any  subsequent  time  the  Rohillas  suffered  any  special  perse- 
cution or  oppression  from  the  Oudh  authorities."  Such  is  a 
succinct  account  of  the  results  of  the  war.  It  will  presently 
be  necessary  to  examine  in  some  detail  the  atrocities  said  to 
have  attended  it.  But  before  doing  so,  it  will  be  well  to  clear  up 
one  point;  the  nature  of  the  "  extermination."  of  which  Burke 
and  Mill  make  so  much  capital.  "*" 

The  First  Article  of  Charge  presented  by  Burke  to  the  House 
of  Commons  on  the  4th  of  April,  1786,  opens  with  the  words 
"That  the  said  Warren  Hastings  ...  did,  in  September  1773, 
enter  into  a  private  engagement  with  the  said  Nabob  of  Oudh  . . . 
to  furnish  him  for  a  stipulated  sum  of  money,  to  be  paid  to  the 
East  India  Company,  with  a  body  of  troops,  for  the  declared 
purpose  of  thoroughly  extirpating  the  nation  of  the  Rohillas."... 
Mill,  in  his  History,  confirms  Burke  in  the  following  words : — 
"Not  only  was  the  ferocity  of  Indian  depredation  let  loose  upon 
the  wretched  inhabitants,  but  as  the  intention  of  the  Vizier, 
according  to  what  he  had  previously  and  repeatedly  declared 
to  the  British  government,  was  to  exterminate  the  Rohillas,  every 
one  who  bore  the  name  of  Rohilla  was  either  butchered,  or  found 
his  safety  in  flight  and  exile."  Mill  in  a  note  quotes  in  con- 
firmation of  his  assertion  two  passages  from  letters  which  passed 
between  Hastings  and  the  Wazir  in  1773.  The  former  letter, 
from  Hastings  to  the  Wazir,  says,  "I  have  received  your 
Excellency's  letter,  mentioning  ...  that,  should  the  Rohillas  be 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  their  agreement  [viz.  :  about  the  forty 
lakhs],  we  will  thoroughly  exterminate  them,  and  settle  your 
Excellency  in  the  country  "  ; ...The  Wazir's  letter  says,  "During 
an  interview  at  Benares,  it  was  agreed  that  I  should 
pay,    etc.,   ...  and   that   I   should,   with   the   assistance   of   the 


194  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

English  forces,  endeavour  to  punish  and  exterminate  the  Rohillas 
out  of  their  country."  The  correspondence  between  Hastings 
and  the  Wazir  was  carried  on  in  Persian.  The  original  letters 
cannot  now  be  discovered,  but  the  words  "exterminate"  and 
"extirpate"  are  those  of  the  official  Interpreter  who  translated 
the  Persian  letters  into  English.  In  regard  to  the  former  term 
we  have  that  officer's  assertion  that  the  Persian  word  employed 
was  istisdly  and  that  in  rendering  it  by  "extermination"  he  had 
no  idea  of  conveying  the  meaning  affixed  to  it  in  the  Charge,  that 
of  massacring  the  whole  body  of  the  Rohillas,  but  merely  that  of 
destroying  their  power  and  expelling  them  as  a  body  from  the 
country — a  sense  justified,  as  he  points  out,  by  the  authority  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  explains  it  in  one  sense  "  to  remove,"  and  also 
by  its  literal  use.  For  "  extirpate,"  occurring  in  the  translation 
of  a  letter  from  Hastings  to  the  Wazir  in  November,  1774,  it 
appears  that  the  Persian  term  was  ikhraj ;  for  in  a  letter  from 
Hastings  to  the  Court  of  Directors,  in  which  he  says  that  the 
real  sense  of  the  term  rendered  * '  extirpate  "  was  * '  expel  or 
remove,"  that  Persian  word  is  written  in  the  margin,  with  the 
obvious  intention  of  showing  that  it  was  the  expression  used  by 
the  Wazir.  £_ Challenged  on  the  subject,  Hastings  declared  that 
not  only  was  this  the  meaning  in  which  he  used  the  word,  but 
that  the  "extirpation"  which  actually  took  place  "consisted  in 
nothing  more  than  in  removing  .from  their  offices  the  Rohillas 
who  had  the  official  management  of  the  country,  and  from  the 
country  the  soldiers  who  had  opposed  us  in  the  conquest.  "J 
That  the  two  Persian  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  Arabic,  words 
may  well  bear  the  meaning  which  Hastings  gives  them,  is  the 
decision  of  scholars  whose  authority  is  beyond  all  question  :  that 
the  "extermination"  or  "extirpation"  was  such  as  Hastings 
asserts  it  to  have  been,  is  shown  by  the  testimony  before  the 
House  of  Commons  of  Colonel  Champion,  by  no  means  a  friendly 
witness.  His  evidence  is  explicit  on  the  following  points  and  is 
corroborated  by  that  of  Major  Balfour,  who  served  under  him, 
and  of  Mr.  Middleton,  the  Resident  at  the  Court  of  Lucknow  : 
that  "the  military  portion  of  the  nation "  were  only  required  to 
cross  the  Ganges,  and  were  not  put  to  death  ;  that  probably 
some  45,000  men,  including  camp  followers,  remained  in  the 
country  under  Faizullah  Khan  :  that  perhaps  20,000  men  in 
arms  were  required  to  pass  the  Ganges :  that,  excepting  those 
who  fell  in  battle,  he  knew  nothing  of  any  being  put  to  death ; 
that  many  and  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
remained  in  it ;  that  none  but  those  in  arms,  with  the  camp 
followers  and  their  families,  were  driven  across  the  Ganges.  As 
to  the  expulsion  of  those  in  arms, — which  is  what  the  "  ex- 
termination "  or  "  extirpation  "  amounts  to, — Sir  J.  Strachey 
remarks,  "The  stipulation  of  the  treaty,  that  men  actually 
under  arms  should  leave  Rohilkhand,  was  perfectly  reasonable. 


APPENDIX  I.  195 

It  was  necessary  for  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  it  involved 
little  hardship,  for  all  that  happened  to  the  Rohilla  soldiers 
whom  it  affected  was  that  after  a  march  of  a  few  miles  they 
crossed  the  Ganges  into  the  territory  of  Zabita  Khan,  their  own 
countryman.  The  facts  cannot  be  summed  up  more  accurately 
than  in  the  words  of  Hastings,  ...  '  We  conquered  the  country 
from  the  conquerors  of  it,  and  substituted  another  rule  in  the 
place  of  theirs,  upon  the  same  principle  of  right  and  usage 
(the  right  of  the  war  being  pre-supposed),  as  a  British  com- 
mander in  Europe  would  expel  the  soldiers  of  a  conquered 
town,  and  garrison  it  with  his  own,  which  by  the  same  figure 
of  speech,  and  with  equal  propriety,  might  be  called  an  ' 'ex- 
tirpation. ""' 

We  may  now  return  to  the  "atrocities."  Such  as  they  were, 
they  are  to  be  imputed  solely  to  the  Wazir  and  his  agents  ;  the 
only  charge  against  Hastings  being  that  he,  in  part  at  least, 
admitted  and  defended  them.  The  evidence  on  the  subject 
is  to  be  found  (1)  in  the  letters  of  Champion  during  the  occupa- 
tion of  Rohilkhand,  (2)  in  the  evidence  given  by  Champion  and 
others  before  the  Council  and  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
(3)  in  the  records  of  contemporaneous  histories.  "The  first 
reference,"  says  Sir  J.  Strachey,*  "  to  any  excesses  of  the  troops 
of  the  Vizier  is  contained  in  a  private  letter  from  Hastings,  sent 
in  reply  to  one  written  by  Colonel  Champion  when  the  army 
entered  Rohilkhand,  and  before  the  defeat  of  the  Rohillas. 
Colonel  Champion's  letter  is  not  forthcoming,  but  it  is  clear  from 
the  reply  of  Hastings,  from  the  instructions  of  the  Government, 
and  from  other  papers,  that  the  Vizier  had  given  orders  for  the 
devastation  of  the  country,  but  that  the  English  Commander 
protested  against  them  and  succeeded,  after  a  short  time,  in 
stopping  their  execution. "  In  his  answer,  Hastings  emphatically 
supports  Champion's  protest.  On  the  news  being  received  of 
the  defeat  of  the  Rohillas,  Hastings,  writing  in  the  name  of  the 
Government,  repeats  the  commendation  given  to  Champion, 
although  nothing  further  has  been  reported  of  any  atrocities. 
When,  a  little  later,  Champion  refers  to  the  maltreatment  of 
Hafiz  Rahmat's  family  and  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  but 
gives  no  specific  instance,  Hastings,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
Council,  writes,  "We  desire,  therefore,  to  be  immediately 
advised  of  the  particulars  of  the  treatment  which  you  allude 
to,  that  we  may  judge  of  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted. 
In  the  interim,  we  recommend  you  to  urge,  in  your  own  behalf, 
and  in  the  name  of  the  Boarxl,  such  remonstrances  to  the  Vizier, 
against  any  rigorous  treatment  of  the  Rohilla  chiefs  and  their 
families,  as  you  may  +hink  the  occasion  to  require.  From  the 
readiness  which  the  Vizier  testified  in  a  former  instance  to 

*  Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War,  pp.  188,  ft. 


196  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

be  influenced  by  your  advice  and  persuasion,  we  flatter  our- 
selves we  may  expect  the  same  good  fruits  from  your  inter- 
position now."  A  few  days  later  came  a  private  letter  from 
Champion,  enclosing  an  official  request  that  he  might  be  allowed 
to  return  to  Calcutta.  "Not  only  do  I  wish,"  he  wrote,  "to 
get  down  as  soon  as  possible  to  put  my  little  affairs  in  the  best 
order  for  my  return  to  Europe,  but  I  must  be  candid  enough  to 
unbosom  myself  to  you  freely,  and  confess  that  the  nature  of  the 
service,  and  the  terms  on  which  I  have  been  employed,  [?  in] 
this  campaign  have  been  inexpressibly  disagreeable.  The 
authority  given  to  the  Vizier  over  your  army  has  totally  ab- 
sorbed that  degree  of  consequence  due  to  my  station.  My  hands 
have  been  tied  up  from  giving  protection  or  asylum  to  the 
miserable.  I  have  been  obliged  to  give  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
lamentable  cries  of  the  widow  and  fatherless,  and  to  shut  my 
eyes  against  a  wanton  display  of  violence  and  oppression,  of 
inhumanity  and  cruelty. "...He  then  goes  on  to  recommend  that 
the  family  of  Hafiz  Rahmat  should  be  taken  under  the  Company's 
protection,  and  to  instance  some  of  the  hardships  to  which  they 
had  been  subjected.  Hastings's  reply  is  too  long  to  be  quoted  in 
full.  He  points  out  that  "it  never  could  have  been  suspected 
by  the  Board  that  their  orders  to  you  should  have  tied  up  your 
hands  from  protecting  the  miserable,  stopped  your  ears  to  the 
cries  of  the  widows  and  fatherless,  or  shut  your  eyes  against  the 
wanton  display  of  oppression  and  cruelty  "  :  that  his  advice  and 
remonstrance  ought,  if  used,  to  have  had  the  same  effect  that 
they  had  when  the  ravages  of  the  country  were  stopped  at  his 
intercession  on  the  occupation  of  the  country  :  that  if  any  other 
more  effectual  remedy,  or  any  addition  which  could  be  given  to 
his  authority,  not  liable  to  the  objection  of  establishing  a  divided 
power  or  an  unjust  usurpation  of  the  Wazir's  authority,  would 
be  gladly  agreed  to  by  the  Board ;  that  he  had  instructed  the 
Resident  at  the  Wazir's  Court  to  make  the  strongest  representa- 
tions on  the  subject :  but  that  in  the  relations  the  Board  stood 
to  the  Wazir  it  was  impossible  to  take  the  family  of  Hafiz 
Rahmat  immediately  under  its  protection.  The  instructions  to 
the  Resident  were  most  stringent.  "  Tell  him,"  [the  Wazir]  says 
Hastings  among  other  things,  "that  the  English  manners  are 
abhorrent  of  every  species  of  inhumanity  and  oppression,  and 
enjoin  the  gentlest  treatment  of  a  vanquished  enemy.  Require 
and  entreat  his  observance  of  this  principle  towards  the  family 
of  Hafiz.  Tell  him  my  instructions  to  you ;  generally,  but 
urgently,  enforce  the  same  maxims ;  and  that  no  part  of  his 
conduct  will  operate  so  powerfully  in  winning  the  affections  of 
the  English  as  instances  of  benevolence  and  feeling  for  others. 
If  these  arguments  do  not  prevail,  you  may  inform  him  directly 
that  you  have  my  orders  to  insist  upon  a  proper  treatment  of 
the  family  of  Hafiz  Rahmat,   since   in  our  alliance  with   him 


APPENDIX  I.  197 

our  national  character  is  involved  in  every  act  which,  subjects 
his  own  to  reproach ;  that  I  shall  publicly  exculpate  this 
Government  from  the  imputation  of  assenting  to  such  a  pro- 
cedure, and  shall  reserve  it  as  an  objection  to  any  future  engage- 
ments with  him  when  the  present  service  shall  have  been 
accomplished."  How  Hastings's  instructions  to  the  resident  were 
carried  out  will  be  seen  further  on.  Omitting  two  letters  of 
Champion's  which  have  no  great  bearing  on  the  controversy, 
we  come  to  his  reply  to  the  letter  of  the  23rd  May,  in  which  he 
had  been  ordered  by  Hastings  to  furnish  full  particulars  of  the 
maltreatment  to  which  Hafiz  Rahmat's  family  had  been  subjected. 
This  reply,  while  complaining  of  the  Wazir's  disregard  of  his 
remonstrances  and  repeating  the  charge  of  cruelty  to  the  family 
of  Hafiz,  contains  no  specific  instances  of  which  Champion  had 
proof,  and  says  nothing  of  cruelty  to  the  Rohillas  generally.  It, 
however,  again  urged  that  he  should  "be  invested  with  full 
authority  to  effectually  prevent  the  Vizier  from  perpetrating  any 
enormity,  under  the  shield  of  our  force,  that  could  in  any  degree 
redound  to  the  discredit  of  our  reputation."  Such  extended 
powers  the  Board  in  their  answer  decline  to  give,  and,  after  re- 
capitulating their  relations  to  the  Wazir,  they  thus  continue, 
"  The  intemperate  and  tyrannical  conduct  of  the  Vizier  after  his 
conquest,  as  you  have  represented,  cannot  fail  to  prove  highly 
dissatisfactory  to  us,  and  although  we  do  not  regard  ourselves 
either  as  answerable  for  his  actions,  or  obliged  absolutely  to 
interfere  for  restraining  them,  yet  we  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  been  furnished  with  such  materials  as  would  enable  us, 
upon  good  grounds,  to  expostulate  with  him  on  the  injustice  and 
impropriety  of  such  a  conduct.  It  was  in  this  view  that  we 
requested  you  to  acquaint  us  with  instances  of  his  cruelties,  but  we 
confess  ourselves  exceedingly  disappointed  in  receiving,  instead  of 
a  precise  account  of  facts,  only  three  letters  of  loose  declamation, 
which  however  pathetically  written,  contain  not  one  single 
instance  of  the  Vizier's  particular  cruelty  towards  the  family 
of  Hafiz,  and  indeed  express  only  such  sentiments  as  we  can 
easily  conceive  to  exist  in  the  breasts  of  that  unfortunate  family, 
...  For  this  reason  we  repeat  our  desire  to  be  furnished  with  a 
particular  account  of  the  treatment  which  the  family  of  Hafiz 
has  received,  and  we  shall  then  take  such  steps  for  their  relief 
as  the  circumstances  shall  require.  In  the  meantime,  we  hope 
that  the  remonstrances  which  the  President  informs  us  he  has 
directed  the  Resident  to  make  to  the  Vizier  on  this  subject,  will 
be  sufficient  to  render  any  more  direct  interposition  needless."... 
The  "particular  account"  thus  demanded  was  never  furnished, 
though  Colonel  Champion  remained  in  Rohilkhand  several  months 
after  he  received  these  orders.  When  questioned  on  the  point 
before  the  House  of  Commons,  he  replied,  "In  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion, I  must  observe  that  repeatedly,  before  the  date  of  that  letter 


198  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

and  afterwards,  I  thought  the  remonstrances  I  made  were  suffic- 
ient, and  therefore  did  not  comply  with  the  orders  I  received." 
The  Board's  letter  was  sent  on  July  1st,  and  the  only  notice 
it  received  was  a  reply  dated  September  3rd,  in  which  Colonel 
Champion  speaks  of  having  already  "attested  the  truth  of  the 
complaints,  which  I  will  venture  to  say  bear  more  than  one  or 
two  instances  of  cruelty ;  I  might  add  others,  such  as  these  un- 
happy captives  being  driven  to  the  necessity  of  supplicating  and 
receiving  alms  from  myself  and  gentlemen  of  my  family  to  purchase 
sustenance ;  their  even  begging  for  water  to  drink,  their  struggling 
who  should  first  be  served  with  it,  etc.  In  short,  the  gross 
maltreatment  of  these  families  amounts  to  an  axiom  in  the  minds 
of  the  English  army,  and  even  in  the  Vizier's  own  troops." 
Hopeless,  apparently,  of  getting  any  more  distinct  statement 
from  Colonel  Champion,  Hastings  wrote  to  the  Resident  on  the 
subject.  "The  enormities  he  [Colonel  Champion]  insists  upon 
are  of  a  nature  that  I  think  could  not  have  escaped  your  obser- 
vation ...  I  wish  the  truth  to  appear,  neither  glossed  by  favour 
nor  blackened  by  prejudice ;  let  me  therefore  beg  of  you  to 
furnish  me  with  the  fullest  information  you  can  obtain  of  the 
Vizier's  treatment  of  the  family  of  Hafiz,  etc.,  and  to  support 
your  accounts  with  the  strongest  proofs  that  can  be  produced."... 
Middleton's  reply  will  be  noticed  later  on.  But  in  the  mean- 
while it  will  be  as  well  to  make  an  end  of  Champion's  statements 
subsequent  to  his  leaving  Rohilkhand.  That,  so  far,  Hastings 
had  in  no  wise  defended  the  atrocities  attributed  to  Wazir  is 
plain  enough  ;  nor  can  any  such  defence  be  alleged  against  him 
in  the  future.  Champion's  accusations,  however,  against  the 
Wazir  now  become  definite  enough.  For  in  November,  1774, 
Shuja-ud-daula  sent  to  Hastings  a  letter  filled  with  complaints 
against  the  Commander-in-Chief  and  his  troops.  To  this  Cham- 
pion found  it  necessary  to  reply,  and  he  was  able  to  do  this  at  a 
favourable  moment,  the  new  Government  having  come  into 
power,  and  Hastings  being  in  a  minority  at  the  Board.  Among 
the  charges  now  made  we  are  told  that,  on  the  march  from 
Pilibhit  to  Bisauli,  the  wife  and  children  of  Hafiz,  the  widow 
of  his  eldest  son,  the  wife  of  his  eldest  surviving  son,  and  some 
hundreds  of  miserable  captive  women  were  dragged  in  triumph 
on  carts  ;  that  at  Bareli  and  Aonla  the  inhabitants  were  indis- 
criminately plundered ;  that  at  Bisauli  the  whole  army  were 
witnesses  of  scenes  that  cannot  be  described ;  that  when  on  the 
march  the  sepoys  were  withdrawn  from  the  villages  they  were 
sent  to  protect,  those  villages  were  set  in  flames  by  way  of 
bonfire  for  his  Excellency;  that  the  Wazir's  conduct  to  the 
families  of  Mohibullah  Khan  and  Fattehullah  Khan  were  both 
treacherous  and  dastardly,  they  being  robbed  of  their  property 
and  dishonoured  in  the  persons  of  their  women  ;  that  the  family 
of  Dundi  Khan  was  robbed  of  their  throne,  despoiled  of  their 


APPENDIX  I.  199 

honour,  and  subjected  to  bondage  of  the  greatest  severity.  Such 
are  the  chief  statements  in  his  long  and  rambling  letter.  When 
examined  a  month  later  before  the  Council — a  Council  known 
to  be  hostile  to  Hastings — these  statements  shrank  in  a  most 
wonderful  manner.  As  to  the  worst  charges,  his  answers  gene- 
rally were  prefixed  by  such  words  as  "It  appeared  so  to  me" ;  "I 
did  hear  such  report,  but  as  to  the  grounds  I  have  none  sufficient 
to  prove  the  accusation" ;  "It  was  reported  to  me  that  they  [the 
families  of  the  chiefs]  were  in  want  of  everything  that  could 
make  their  situation  tolerably  comfortable"  ;  "It  was  reported 
to  me  that  they  were  in  want "  ;  "I  cannot  charge  my  memory, 
but  beg  leave  to  refer  to  the  correspondence."  They  were,  in 
fact,  as  Sir  J.  Strachey  remarks,  "  meagre  and  evasive,  couched 
in  such  general  terms,  and  so  extremely  short,  that  they  add 
little  to  our  knowledge."  Those  given  on  the  same  subject 
before  the  House  of  Commons  in  1786  failed  to  elicit  anything 
of  value  as  to  the  authority  on  which  his  statements  had  been 
made,  except  that  his  information  was  obtained  through  spies 
set  to  furnish  it.  On  the  same  points  the  evidence  of  Colonel 
Leslie  and  Major  Hannay,  both  in  Rohilkhand  during  its  con- 
quest and  occupation,  were  taken  before  the  Council,  and  by 
neither  was  any  atrocity,  except  that  of  burning  villages,  de- 
posed to  on  their  own  knowledge,  though  vague  reports  had 
reached  their  ears.  A  third  officer,  Major  Balfour,  who  likewise 
had  been  through  the  campaign,  was  examined  before  the  House 
of  Commons.  His  evidence,  both  as  to  the  facts  and  the  conse- 
quences of  the  war,  were  still  less  to  the  discredit  of  the  Wazir. 
The  whole  of  the  recorded  evidence  of  the  English  military 
officers  who  took  part  in  the  war,  in  regard  to  the  cruelties  said 
to  have  been  committed  by  the  Wazir,  has  now  been  examined, 
and  we  may  go  back  to  the  correspondence  between  Hastings 
and  Middleton.  In  the  latter's  first  letter,  written  on  the  17th 
June,  1774,  he  says  that  though  he  cannot  by  any  means  acquit 
the  Wazir  of  the  charge  made  against  him  on  the  score  of  his 
treatment  of  Hafiz  Rahmat's  family,  and  his  wanton  ravages  of 
the  country,  he  believes  that  those  charges  had  been  exaggerated. 
The  story  of  his  having  dishonoured  Mohibullah  Khan's  daughter 
he  shows  to  be  unfounded ;  the  severity  with  which  Dundi 
Khan's  family  had  been  treated  was,  in  his  opinion,  in  some 
measure  justified  by  their  treachery  ;  Hafiz  Rahmat's  family,  he 
admits,  had  "suffered  much  distress  and  inconvenience  for  want 
of  proper  accommodation  in  camp,  but  my  own  knowledge  does 
not  furnish  me  with  any  instances  of  cruelty  or  violence  wantonly 
exercised  upon  them."  The  Wazir  had  promised  to  allot  a  hand- 
some provision  for  the  maintenance  of  that  family,  while  their 
removal,  and  that  of  Dundi  Khan's  family,  to  Faizabad  had  been 
carried  out  under  due  precautions  for  their  proper  treatment.  On 
the  5th  July,  Middleton  again  wrote  to  Hastings.     Reports  as  to 


200  WARREN  HASTING& 

the  Wazir's  behaviour  towards  his  prisoners  were  constantly 
reaching  his  ears,  and  their  persistence  made  him  lend  some 
credit  to  them.  He  therefore  earnestly  remonstrated  with  the 
Wazir,  threatening  him  with  the  displeasure  of  Hastings,  in  case 
the  rumours  should  be  true,  and  the  forfeiture  of  "every  claim 
to  that  support  and  protection  which  the  English  have  on  all 
occasions  manifested  such  readiness  to  yield  him."  All  the 
charges  urged  were  positively  denied  by  the  Wazir,  and  Middle- 
ton,  when  examined  before  the  House  of  Commons,  admitted 
that  after  sending  his  letter  to  Hastings  "he  had  reason  to  think 
more  favourably  of  the  character  of  the  Vizier,"  and  that  he 
"found  that  many  of  the  reports  that  had  been  propagated  to 
his  prejudice,  from  the  best  information  he  could  obtain,  were 
without  foundation."  In  the  same  evidence  he  said  that  "he 
knew  of  no  instance  of  cruelty,  in  the  course  of  the  war  upon  the 
Rohillas,  either  by  Shuja-ud-daula  or  by  his  orders "  ;  that  he 
understood  the  article  in  the  treaty  with  Faizullah  Khan,  requir- 
ing the  Rohillas  to  leave  the  country,  to  apply  only  to  the  troops 
under  arms  and  their  chiefs  ;  that  they  crossed  the  Ganges  into 
the  territory  of  their  countrymen,  Zabita  Khan  ;  that  many  of 
them,  although  not  publicly  permitted,  returned  to  Rohilkhand, 
and  either  went  to  Faizullah  Khan  or  enlisted  in  the  Wazir's 
army  ;  and  that  for  the  peace  of  the  country  he  could  suggest  no 
better  plan  than  that  of  compelling  the  Rohillas  to  cross  the 
Ganges.  Of  contemporaneous  histories,  Sir  J.  Strachey  quotes 
from  the  Gulistan-i-Rahmat,  by  the  son  of  Hafiz  Rahmat,  from 
Hamilton's  History,  and  from  the  Siyar-ul-Mutakharin,  by  Syad 
Ghulam  Husen  Khan,  in  none  of  which  is  there  any  mention  of 
excesses  or  atrocities.  He  then  goes  on  to  prove  beyond  all 
possible  doubt  that  Mill  in  his  account  of  the  Rohilla  WTar 
deliberately  falsified  history.  With  the  greater  part  of  the 
correspondence  between  Hastings,  Champion,  and  Middleton, 
and  the  evidence  taken  before  the  House  of  Commons,  that 
historian  "deliberately  omitted  all  mention  of  the  fact  that 
Hastings,  in  language  as  strong  as  it  was  possible  to  find,  had 
repeatedly  expressed  his  detestation  of  the  cruelties  attributed  to 
the  Vizier,  and  had  issued  the  instructions  which  seemed  to  him 
most  likely  to  stop  them.  Not  content  with  this  suppression 
of  the  truth,  Mill,  . . .  has  stated  that  Hastings  defended  the 
atrocities  of  the  Vizier,  and  in  proof  of  his  assertion  he  has 
professed  to  quote  the  very  words  of  Hastings  himself.  1  do 
not  use  language  too  strong  for  the  occasion  when  T  say 
that  a  more  baseless  calumny  was  never  recorded  by  one 
calling  himself  an  historian.  The  words  which  Mill  has  cited  are 
to  be  found,  not  in  any  reply  to  the  representations  of  Colonel 
Champion  while  the  war  was  in  progress,  but  in  a  Minute  written 
by  Hastings  on  the  10th  January,  1775,  in  answer  to  a  letter, 
attacking  him  m  unmeasured  terms,  which  had  been  sent  to  the 


APPENDIX  I.  201 

Court  of  Directors  by  Clavering,  Monson,  and  Francis,  who  then 
formed  the  Majority  in  Council.  According  to  a  custom  very 
usual  with  him,  Mill  has  separated  from  the  context  the  par- 
ticular words  that  suited  his  purpose,  and  suppressing  the  rest, 
he  gives  his  garbled  extract  as  the  proof  of  a  false  and  atrocious 
charge. "  Summing  up  the  whole  question  of  the  atrocities,  Sir 
J.  Strachey  continues,* 

"  The  statement  that  atrocities  were  defended  or  excused  by 
Hastings  had  its  origin  in  a  baseless  falsehood.  He  did  all  in  his 
power  to  cause  the  war  to  be  conducted  with  humanity,  and,  consider- 
ing all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  his  efforts  were  successful. 
From  the  time  when  the  army  of  the  Vizier  entered  Rohilkhand  to 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Faizullah  Khan,  nearly  six 
months  elapsed.  In  the  first  week  of  this  period,  while  hostilities 
were  in  progress,  and  in  the  three  or  four  days  which  followed  the 
defeat  of  the  Rohillas,  many  villages  were '  burned,  and  whatever 
property  could  be  carried  off  was  plundered.  This  occurred  in  a  small 
tract  of  country  between  the  Oudh  frontier  and  Pilibhit.  There  was 
no  serious  loss  of  life  or  personal  suffering,  because  the  villages  had 
been,  for  the  most  part,  entirely  deserted  by  their  inhabitants,  who, 
according  to  their  established  custom  on  the  approach  of  danger,  had 
fled  to  the  Tarai  and  forest,  taking  with  them  their  cattle  and  such 
valuables  as  they  could  easily  remove.  The  rest  of  Rohilkhand,  a 
country  nearly  as  large  as  Belgium,  was  rapidly  occupied  without 
opposition,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Rohillas,  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  in  any  part  of  it,  or  at  any  time,  any  serious  excesses 
were  committed  by  the  troops  of  the  Vizier.  Long  before  the  submis- 
sion of  Faizullah  Khan,  the  Hindu  inhabitants,  who  constituted  nearly 
the  whole  population,  were,  for  the  most  part,  following  their  usual 
occupations.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  they  were  anywhere 
exposed  to  any  extraordinary  hardship  or  ill-treatment  beyond  that 
inevitable  in  a  time  of  war.  In  regard  to  the  Rohillas,  whose  numbers 
were  comparatively  small,  the  story  of  their  cruel  extermination  is 
absolutely  false,  nor  is  there  a  particle  of  evidence  that  any  atrocities 
were  committed  upon  them  at  any  time  during  the  war.  Excepting 
the  men  who  fell  in  battle,  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  Rohilla  was 
put  to  death,  or  was  treated  with  any  inhumanity.  The  only  Rohillas 
who  were  compelled  to  leave  Rohilkhand,  other  than  the  principal 
chiefs,  were  the  soldiers  actually  under  arms  with  Faizullah  Khan. 
Under  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  final  treaty  of  peace,  they  crossed 
the  Ganges  into  the  friendly  territory  of  Zabita  Khan,  their  country- 
man. The  rest  of  the  Rohillas  were  unmolested,  or  went  into  Ram  pur, 
the  Rohilla  State  assigned  by  treaty  to  Faizullah  Khan,  their  recog- 
nised chief.  The  Rohilla  chiefs  were  generally  treated  with  con- 
sideration and  lenity.  Two  of  them  only,  the  sons  of  Dundi  Khan, 
who  had  broken  engagements  which  they  had  entered  into  with  the 
Vizier,  were,  not  unjustly,  punished  with  temporary  confinement  and 
confiscation  of  their  property  ;  but  they  suffered  no  serious  ill-treat- 
ment and  they  were  soon  released.  The  ladies  of  the  families  of 
Hafiz  Rahmat  and  Dundi  Khan,  with  their  dependents,  suffered  much 

*Pp.  231-3. 


202  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

distress  and  inconvenience  from  their  removal  into  camp,  and  from 
the  absence  of  proper  arrangements  for  their  comfort  and  for  their 
maintenance,  and  their  jewels  and  personal  ornaments  were  taken 
from  them.  The  stories  that  they  were,  in  any  case,  subjected  to 
personal  outrage  or  gross  insult  are  absolutely  false,  without  any 
vestige  of  foundation.  ...  I  do  not  doubt  that  this,  like  every  other 
war,  brought  with  it  an  amount  of  misery  far  worse  than  that  of 
which  any  direct  evidence  is  now  before  us,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
seems  to  me  clear  that  Shuja-ud-daula  would  have  been  justified  in 
saying  that  the  campaign  in  Rohilkhand  had  been  carried  on  with  an 
absence  of  violence  and  bloodshed  and  generally  with  a  degree  of 
humanity  altogether  unusual  in  Indian  warfare.  Nor  can  I  doubt 
that  this  result  was  mainly  due  to  the  remonstrances  of  Hastings. 
1  History,'  writes  Mr.  Forrest,  *  furnishes  no  more  striking  example  of 
the  growth  and  vitality  of  a  slander.  The  Rohilla  atrocities  owe  their 
birth  to  the  malignity  of  Champion  and  Francis  ;  their  growth  to  the 
rhetoric  of  Burke ;  and  their  wide  diffusion  to  the  brilliancy  and 
pellucid  clearness  of  Macaulay's  style.'  The  only  defect  I  can  find  in 
this  perfectly  just  judgment  is  that  in  pronouncing  it  Mr.  Forrest  has 
forgotten  the  History  of  James  Mill." 

One  point  remains  for  consideration,  viz.,  the  objects  with 
which  the  Rohilla  war  was  undertaken.  Macaulay,  as  will  be 
seen  in  his  Essay,  held  that  the  acquisition  of  money  was  the 
sole  object  that  Hastings  had  in  view.  "  That  he.  [Macaulay]," 
says  Sir  J.  Strachey,£j  never  investigated  the  facts  for  himself 
isilearT^  With  the  exceptionofa  fewerrorieous  statements  taken 
from  trie  speeches  or  charges  of  Burke,  everything  that  he  has 
written  on  the  subject  is  traceable  to  Mill,  nor  can  I  blame  him 
for  believing  that  Mill's  authority  might  be  accepted  as  con- 
clusive. His  version  of  the  story  of  the  Rohilla  war  is  not  history 
but  rhetoric,  and  I  do  not  propose  to  criticize  it.  TEe  grave  and 
dteliberate  allegations  of  Mill  stand  on  a  different  footing  from  the 
rhetoric  of  Macaulay  and  the  passionate  invective  of  Burke ...  The 
sole  authority  quoted  is  that  of  Hastings  himself ;  he  is  judged 
and  condemned  by  his  own  words  ;  there  is  nothing  to  lead  the 
reader  to  suppose  that  Hastings  ever  gave  any  other  explanation 
of  his  motives. "  *  Now,  at  no  time  did  Hastings  conceal  that  an 
improvement  of  the  Company's  finances  was  one  of  the  objects  he 
had  in  view.  He  stated  it  in  various  of  his  official  Minutes,  he 
openly  avowed  it  in  his  answer  to  Burke's  charges  before  the 
House  of  Commons.  But  this  improvement  was  "an  accessory 
argument "  in  favour  of  the  war,  not  a  principal  argument.  And 
as  his  avowals  were  so  pertinaciously  urged  against  him,  it  might 
be  supposed  that  in  common  justice  the  principal  arguments  so 
repeatedly  set  forth  by  him  would  receive  some  credit.  These 
arguments  were,  (1)  "Justice  to  the  Vizier,  for  the  aggravated 
breach  of  treaty  by  the  Rohilla  chiefs :  (2)  The  honour  of  the 
Company,  pledged  implicitly  by  General  Barker's  attestation  for 

*P.  236. 


APPENDIX  L  203 

the  accomplishment  of  this  treaty,  and  which,  added  to  their 
alliance  with  the  Vizier,  engaged  us  to  see  redress  obtained  for 
the  perfidy  of  the  Rohillas :  (3)  The  completion  of  the  line  of 
defence  of  the  Vizier's  dominions  by  extending  his  boundary  to 
the  natural  barrier  formed  by  the  northern  chain  of  hills  and  the 
Ganges,  and  their  junction."  Over  and  over  again  in  his  Minutes 
and  Despatches  does  Hastings  asseverate  such  to  have  been  his 
principal  reasons  for  engaging  in  the  war.  Over  and  over  again 
does  he  justify  those  reasons  and  set  forward  the  arguments  by 
which  they  were  supported  in  his  understanding.  Yet  his  tra- 
ducers  have  combined  either  to  ignore  them  altogether  or  to  treat 
them  as  mere  flimsy  pretexts.  Space  does  not  allow  of  my  mak- 
ing extracts  of  sufficient  length  to  show  the  importance  which 
Hastings  attached  to  the  principles  on  which  he  acted  or  the 
weight  which  his  defence  might  be  supposed  to  have  with  candid 
judges.  I  must  content  myself  with  one  more  quotation  from  Sir 
J.  Strachey  and  one  from  Sir  A.  Lyall's  Warren  Hastings. 

"Whatever  view,"  says  Sir  J.  Strachey,*  "be  taken  of  the  propriety 
of  engaging  in  the  Rohilla  war,  enough  has,  I  think,  been  said  to  show 
that  the  story  of  Hastings  letting  out  the  English  troops  for  hire  to 
slaughter  an  unoffending  people,  without  cause  or  provocation,  for 
the  sole  and  infamous  purpose  of  putting  money  into  the  pockets  of 
his  masters,  is  not  true.  Q!t  was  invented  by  the  malignity  of  Francis, 
it  was  adopted  by  Burke  with  an  indignation  of  which  the  motives 
were  honourable  but  which  were  blind  and  unreasoning,  it  was  written 
down  as  history  by  Mill  when  the  evidence  of  its  falsehood  was  in  his 
hands,  and  it  was  then  thrown  by  Macaulay  into  tjie  rhetorical  shape 
in  which  it  has  ever  since  compelled  acceptance  from  the  majority  of 
Englishmen/1  Before  the  war  was  undertaken,  while  it  was  in  pro- 
gress, after~it  had  been  successfully  completed,  but  when  no  hostile 
imputations  connected  with  it  had  been  made,  and  afterwards  when 
Hastings  had  to  defend  himself  against  the  attacks  of  his  enemies,  he 
never  varied  in  the  explanation  of  his  policy.  That  policy  was  based 
on  the  necessity  of  guarding  against  the  risk  of  ruin  to  ourselves  and 
to  our  ally.  The  primary  object  of  the  war  was  to  obtain  security 
against  the  danger  which  at  that  time  overshadowed  all  other  con- 
siderations, that  of  invasion  by  the  Marathas,  who  were  not  far  from 
achieving  that  universal  dominion  over  India  which  they  openly 
declared  to  be  their  aim.  To  guard  against  this  danger,  Hastings, 
like  Clive,  his  great  predecessor,  believed  that  no  measure  of  pre- 
caution could  be  so  efficacious  as  the  maintenance  of  the  territories 
of  the  Nawab  Vizier  of  Oudh  as  a  barrier  between  Bengal  and  the 
constantly  troubled  countries  of  Northern  India.  He  believed  that 
to  secure  this  object  it  was  necessary  that  the  only  road  by  which 
Oudh  was  easily  accessible  to  the  inroads  of  the  Maratha  armies 
should  be  closed.  The  only  means  by  which  this  could  be  done  was 
by  the  union  of  Rohilkhand  with  Oudh,  and  by  the  expulsion  of  the 
band  of  turbulent  and  faithless  Afghans  who,  not  many  years  before, 
had  established  themselves  in  the  very  quarter  from  which  danger 

*  Pp.  257-264. 


204  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

threatened.  It  had  been  proved  by  experience  that  to  obtain  the 
desired  security  by  an  alliance  with  the  Rohillas  was  impossible.  A 
treaty  had  been  entered  into  between  the  Rohilla  chiefs  and  the 
Vizier,  by  which  the  Vizier  bound  himself  to  protect  Rohilkhand 
against  the  Marathas,  and  the  Rohillas,  on  their  part,  engaged  to  pay 
to  him,  in  consideration  of  that  protection,  the  sum  of  £500,000. 
Although  the  treaty  was  one  to  which  we  were  not  avowedly  a  party, 
it  had  been  concluded  with  the  strenuous  co-operation  and  advice  of 
our  Commander-in-Chief,  it  had  been  attested  by  his  signature,  and  it 
had  been  approved  by  our  Government.  We  had  given  to  the  Vizier  the 
active  and  effectual  assistance  of  our  army  in  enabling  him  to  carry  out 
his  obligations,  and  had  expelled  the  Marathas  from  Rohilkhand.  The 
Rohillas,  on  their  side,  refused  to  fulfil  their  engagements,  and  paid 
nothing  to  the  Vizier.  All  this  afforded  in  the  belief  of  Hastings 
ample  justification  to  the  Vizier  for  undertaking  the  war,  and  ample 
justification  to  us  for  giving  him  the  help  without  which  he  might 
probably  have  been  unsuccessful.  ...  The  question  of  morality,  if  it  is  to 
be  argued,  can  only  be  stated  thus : — Is  a  British  governor  justified  in 
making  war  upon  a  confederacy  of  barbarous  chiefs,  who,  not  long 
before,  had  imposed  their  rule  on  a  population  foreign  to  themselves 
in  race  and  religion  ;  through  whose  country  the  only  road  lies  open 
for  attacks  by  savage  invaders  upon  a  British  ally,  whose  security  is 
essential  to  the  security  of  British  possessions  ;  who  are  too  weak  and 
too  treacherous  to  be  relied  on  to  close  this  road;  and  who  have 
injured  that  ally  by  breaking  a  treaty  with  him  negotiated  and 
attested  by  a  British  General,  and  approved  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment? Upon  such  a  question  there  can  hardly  be  much  difference  of 
opinion.  The  only  reasonable  answer  is  that,  in  such  a  case,  the 
supreme  duty  of  a  governor  is  to  make  the  dominions  under  his  care 
secure  from  foreign  attack  ;  that  if  Hastings  believed  that  the 
security  of  the  British  provinces  depended  on  that  of  Oudh,  he  was 
bound  to  take  measures  of  precaution  against  a  common  danger ; 
and  that  if  he  found  it  impossible  to  reconcile  the  protection  of 
Oudh  and  of  British  territory  with  the  maintenance  of  the  dominion 
of  the  Rohilla  chiefs,  he  was  right  in  the  conclusion  that  their  do- 
minion must  cease.  It  may  doubtless  be  contended  that  Hastings 
overrated  some  of  the  elements  of  danger,  or  committed  other  errors 
of  judgment,  but  at  all  events  there  is  no  room  for  moral  reprobation. 
By  ignoring  the  difficulties  and  complexities  of  the  situation,  it  is 
easy  to  argue  broadly  that  it  is  wrong  to  engage  in  war  without  pro- 
vocation, that  the  Rohillas  had  not  provoked  us,  and  that  the  attack 
upon  them  was  therefore  unjustifiable.  In  the  opinion  of  Hastings 
the  conduct  of  the  Rohillas  in  breaking  their  treaty  with  our  ally, 
and  in  carrying  on  negotiations  with  the  common  enemy,  constituted 
provocation,  and  that  term  can  hardly  be  limited  to  the  case  of  actual 
aggression.  However  this  may  be,  maxims  of  this  sort  could  afford 
no  assistance  to  a  governor  dealing  with  the  question  whether  Oudh 
and  the  British  provinces  should  be  allowed  to  remain  exposed  to 
invasion,  or  how  invasion  might  best  be  averted.  Financial  advantage 
was,  as  Hastings  wrote  to  Colonel  Champion,  ...  'an  accessory  argu- 
ment.' Having  satisfied  himself  that  the  establishment  of  the  Vizier's 
government  in  Rohilkhand  was  necessary,  he  had  to  settle  the  terms 
on  which   our  co-operation  should  be  afforded.      Without  that  co- 


APPENDIX  I.  205 

operation  there  was  obviously  no  certainty  of  success.  ...  Assuming 
with  Hastings  that  the  resolution  to  establish  the  Vizier's  government 
in  Rohilkhand  was  politically  wise,  there  was  nothing  unreasonable 
in  the  stipulation  that  in  addition  to  the  actual  charges  of  the  English 
brigade,  the  Vizier,  '  in  consideration  of  the  Company  relinquishing 
all  claim  to  share  in  the  Eohilla  country,  although  it  is  to  be  conquered 
by  their  joint  forces,'  should  pay  forty  lakhs  of  rupees  on  the  success- 
ful completion  of  the  war...  If  the  English  Government  had  itself 
borne  the  whole  expense  of  its  operations,  and  had  received  nothing 
from  the  Vizier,  the  motives  with  which  the  war  was  undertaken 
would  have  been  less  open  to  misrepresentation,  but  they  would  not, 
as  Hastings  himself  said,  have  thereby  become  more  or  less  just  or 
honourable.  If  the  war  was  made  the  opportunity  of  bringing  profit 
to  the  stronger  power,  it  did  not  differ  in  this  respect  from  many  more 
serious  contests.  It  is  true  that  we  might  sometimes  have  been  better 
pleased  if  Hastings  in  his  despatches  and  minutes  had  said  less  regard- 
ing the  financial  advantages  of  his  agreement  with  the  Vizier,  ...  But 
the  circumstances  under  which  he  was  placed  ought  not  to  be  forgotten. 
He  had  frequently  to  justify  to  the  Directors  at  home  measures  of 
policy  opposed  to  their  orders,  or  of  which  their  approval  was  doubt- 
ful, and  it  was  natural  that  he  should,  when  it  was  possible  to  do  so, 
lay  stress  on  those  conditions  which  would  be  most  likely  to  reconcile 
them  to  his  proceedings.  The  East  India  Company  of  those  days  was 
essentially  mercantile,  and  the  Directors  were  ready  to  pardon  much 
that  they  thought  politically  inexpedient  if  it  could  be  shown  to  be 
pecuniarily  profitable.  ...  Judged  by  its  results,  the  policy  of  Hastings 
was  eminently  successful.  Many  a  ■  wild  Mahratta  battle '  had  still 
to  be  fought.  Nearly  thirty  years  after  the  Rohilla  war,  Maratha 
armies  were  still  contending  with  the  English  for  empire  in  India,  and 
Wellesley  and  Lake  were  winning  their  victories  of  Assaye  and  Argaum 
and  Laswari.  More  than  forty  years  elapsed  before  the  power  of  the 
Marathas  was  finally  swept  away,  but  during  the  whole  of  this  time 
they  never  attacked  or  seriously  threatened  Rohilkhand.  The  occupa- 
tion of  that  province  gave  to  Oudh  and  to  Bengal  that  permanent  pro- 
tection against  the  most  dangerous  of  our  Indian  enemies  which  it  had 
been  the  aim  of  Hastings  to  secure." 

Sir  Alfred  Lyall's  view  of  the  case  is  far  less  favourable  to 
Hastings. 

"  It  is  true,"  *  he  says,  "  that  his  barrier-policy  may  be  said  to  have 
been  so  far  successful  that  the  Vizier  retained  undisturbed  possession 
of  his  acquisitions  until  the  end  of  the  century,  when  Rohilcund  was 
ceded  to  the  English.  Nevertheless  nothing  but  the  urgent  necessity* 
of  self-preservation  can  warrant  an  unprovoked  invasion  of  a  neigh- 
bour's country  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  war  has  left  a  stain 
upon  the  reputation  of  the  Company  in  India,  where  a  shifty  line  of 
policy  is  far  more  unsafe  than  a  weak  frontier  ;  while  it  has  been  the 
last  occasion  upon  which  English  troops  have  joined  in  a  campaign 
with  Indian  allies,  without  retaining  control  of  the  operations.  ...  Mr. 
Gleig  dilates  upon  the  absurdity  of  holding  Hastings  responsible  for 

*  Warren  Hastings,  pp.  48-50. 


206  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

'  details  of  military  operations '  which  he  never  sanctioned  or  approved  ; 
and  totally  fails  to  perceive  that  all  men,  especially  men  in  command, 
are  directly  answerable  for  the  indirect  but  probable  consequences  of 
their  acts  and  orders.  The  expedition  against  the  Rohillas  was  wrong 
in  principle,  for  they  had  not  provoked  us,  and  the  Vizier  could  only 
be  relied  upon  to  abuse  his  advantages. ...  On  the  other  hand,  Macaulay's 
splendid  and  glittering  phrases  have  thrown  a  false  air  of  romance 
over  the  real  origin  and  character  of  the  Rohilla  chiefships,  which 
merely  represented  the  fortuitous  partition  of  an  imperial  province 
among  military  adventurers.  In  their  origin,  political  constitution, 
and  their  relation  to  the  bulk  of  people,  they  might  be  likened  to  the 
Mamelukes  of  Egypt,  who  also  were  a  military  confederacy  under  a 
chief  of  their  own,  paying  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the  Sultan  for  a 
province  which  they  had  seized.  And  they  were  in  reality  suppressed 
for  reasons  not  unlike  those  which  led  to  the  political  destruction  of 
Poland,  because  their  constitution  was  weak  and  turbulent,  and 
because,  therefore,  they  could  not  be  trusted  to  hold  an  important 
position  on  the  frontiers  of  more  powerful  states."... 

If,  after  citing  such  high  authorities,  it  is  at  all  worth  while 
to  give  my  own  opinion  on  the  subject,  I  should  say  that  while 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  position  in  which  Hastings  found  himself 
justified  his  helping  the  Wazir  to  expel  the  Rohillas  from  Rohil- 
khand,  it  did  not  justify  him  in  leaving  that  prince  so  far  un- 
fettered as  regards  the  manner  in  which  the  country  was  to  be 
occupied  and  its  inhabitants  to  be  treated.  Experience  must 
have  taught  Hastings  that  the  Wazir  was  not  likely  to  be  too 
scrupulous,  and  it  was  incumbent  upon  him  to  take  precautions 
which  would  make  impossible  any  abuse  of  conquest.  Exagger- 
ated as  are  the  accounts  of  the  "  atrocities,"  there  can,  I  think, 
be  no  doubt  that  there  was  an  amount  of  licence  which  would 
have  been  avoided  had  more  exact  conditions  of  the  alliance  been 
made  beforehand.  Further,  it  seems  to  me  that  Hastings  himself 
soon  became  conscious  of  having  given  the  Wazir  too  free  a  hand. 
That  the  remonstrances  conveyed  through  Champion  and  Middle- 
ton  were  genuine  enough,  may  be  readily  admitted.  That  they 
were  effectual  in  preventing,  or  at  all  events  in  arresting,  any 
grave  excesses,  has,  I  think,  been  shown.  But  all  through  the 
correspondence  there  seems  to  run  an  uneasy  feeling  that  the 
opportunity  had  been  let  slip  for  placing  a  sufficient  curb  upon 
the  Wazir's  actions  while  yet  it  was  in  the  power  of  Hastings  to 
dictate. 


APPENDIX  II.  207 

APPENDIX  IT. 

HASTINGS,  IMPEY,  AND  NAND  KUMAR. 

If,  in  trusting  to  Mill  for  his  account  of  the  Rohilla  War, 
Macaulay  has  been  singularly  unfortunate,  he  has  fared  even 
worse  as  regards  the  evidence  upon  which  he  built  up  his  de- 
clamatory periods  against  Hastings  and  Impey  in  the  story  of 
Nand  Kumar.  For  it  may  be  said  at  the  outset  that  absolutely 
no  stain  now  rests  upon  the  fame  of  either  in  the  matter  of 
Macaulay 's  "judicial  murder."  That  this  is  so  is  due  almost 
entirely  to  Sir  James  Stephen.  His  unwearied  patience  has 
gone  minutely  into  every  document  that  bears  upon  the  subject, 
his  skill  and  legal  learning  have  disentangled  every  knot  and 
sifted  from  the  vast  mass  of  fabrication  and  prejudice  the 
residue  of  wholesome  truth.  It  will  be  necessary  to  follow 
the  great  jurist  at  considerable  length,  though  I  trust  that 
to  dispassionate  minds  whatever  may  seem  tedious  will  be 
forgiven  for  the  interest  of  the  result.  Of  the  position  in 
which  Hastings  stood  to  the  rest  of  his  Council  nothing  need 
be  added  to  Macaulay's  vivid  account.  Nor  will  it  be  worth 
while  to  say  anything  as  to  the  feelings  with  which  Hastings 
and  Nand  Kumar  entered  upon  their  memorable  duel,  except 
that  their  mutual  animosity  was  of  long  standing  and  that  Nand 
Kumar  skilfully  chose  the  moment  when  he  might  hope  to  have 
Hastings  at  a  disadvantage.  My  narrative,  following  Sir  J. 
Stephen's  scheme,  will  deal  with  (1)  the  accusation  of  corruption 
brought  by  Nand  Kumar  against  Hastings,  (2)  the  accusation  of 
conspiracy  brought  by  Hastings,  and  the  accusation  of  forgery 
brought  by  Mohan  Parshad  against  Nand  Kumar,  (3)  the  trial 
of  Nand  Kumar  and  the  subsequent  events  down  to  the  time  of 
his  execution. 

Macaulay's  summary  of  Nand  Kumar's  accusation,  and  of 
the  Council's  proceedings  on  receiving  it,  is  short,  but  accurate 
as  far  as  it  goes.  The  matter,  however,  is  important  only  as 
regards  the  suspicion  that  Hastings  in  order  to  escape  conviction 
determined  upon  destroying  his  accuser.  Briefly  stated,  the 
accusation  was  that  Hastings  had  accepted  in  bribes  and  gifts 
something  between  three  and  four  hundred  thousand  rupees. 
Of  this  sum  Nand  Kumar  alleged  that  he  himself  had  sent 
Hastings  eight  bags  of  gold  mohrs  of  the  value  of  about  a 
hundred  thousand  rupees  as  a  thank -offering  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  his  son  to  the  treasurership  of  the  titular  subahdar's 
household,    the   remainder  being  a    present  from    the    Manni 


208  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Begam,  widow  of  Mir  Jafir,  who  had  been  made  guardian  of 
the  Subahdar  in  the  place  of  Muhammad  Raza  Khan.  As  to 
his  own  present,  Nand  Kumar  produced  no  corroborative 
evidence,  while  his  account  was  discredited  by  his  vin- 
dictiveness,  his  inconsistency  of  statement,  his  avowed  com- 
plicity in  the  alleged  corrupt  acts,  as  agent  for  the  Begam, 
and  his  often -proved  rascality.  In  support  of  his  story  regard- 
ing the  Begam,  Nand  Kumar  delivered  a  translation,  and 
showed  what  he  declared  to  be  the  original,  of  a  letter  from 
the  Begam.  Of  the  genuineness  of  the  letter  no  proof  was 
adduced  except  that  it  bore  upon  it  a  stamp  with  the  Begam's 
name.  This,  however,  was  no  proof,  for  Nand  Kumar  was 
shown  in  the  case  of  other  persons  to  have  in  his  possession 
seals  belonging  to  them,  or  counterfeiting  the  origins.  The 
story  told  in  the  letter  does  not  on  its  face  agree  with  the 
charge  made  by  Nand  Kumar.  His  story  was  that  the  Begam 
had  given  Hastings  at  Murshidabad  a  lakh  of  rupees,  and  had 
caused  one  Nur  Sing  to  pay  him  at  Kasimbazar  a  further  lakh 
and  a  half.  The  letter  stated  that  she  was  to  pay  Hastings 
two  lakhs,  and  that  she  was  raising  one  lakh  to  be  paid  at 
Murshidabad,  and  it  begs  Nand  Kumar  to  pay  the  other  lakh 
to  Hastings  at  Calcutta,  and  promises  to  repay  him.  Had  the 
Board  compared  Nand  Kumar's  statement  with  the  Begam's 
letter  they  would  have  seen  that  there  was  urgent  need  of 
inquiry.  The  only  questions  they  asked  of  Nand  Kumar  were 
such  as  would  serve  to  strengthen  his  case.  "They  took  no 
steps,"  says  Sir  James  Stephen,*  "  to  ascertain  the  authenticity 
of  the  letter  attributed  to  the  Munny  Begum,  beyond  comparing 
the  inscriptions  on  two  seals.  They  did  not  even  impound  the 
alleged  original,  but  returned  it  to  Nuncomar.  They  did  not 
even  send  for  the  persons  alleged  by  Nuncomar  to  have  delivered 
and  received  the  bags  of  gold,  nor  did  they  ask  a  single  question 
as  to  the  time  when,  and  the  place  where  the  gold  was  delivered, 
the  person  from  whom  he  got  so  large  a  sum,  the  books  in  which 
he  had  made  entries  about  it,  the  place  and  time  of  his  alleged  con- 
versation with  Hastings  on  the  subject,  or  any  of  the  other  obvious 
matters  by  which  his  truthfulness  might  be  tested."  The  only 
point  in  which  Nand  Kumar's  story  received  any  corroboration 
was  as  to  a  lakh  and  a  half  of  rupees  said  to  have  been  presented 
to  Hastings  by  the  Begam.  From  an  inquiry  into  her  books 
it  appeared  that  this  sum  was  paid  to  Hastings  at  Murshid- 
abad in  1772,  as  a  customary  allowance  on  the  visit  of  the 
Governor  to  the  Nawab  and  made  at  the  same  rate  and  for  the 
same  purpose  with  which  it  had  been  made  to  Clive  and  Verelst, 
former  governors.  To  none  of  the  charges  would  Hastings  give  a 
denial  at  the  time.     This  may  have  been  unwise,  but  it  is  easily 

•  The  Story  of  Nuncomar,  etc.,  i.  60-& 


APPENDIX  II.  209 

intelligible.  Francis,  Clavering,  and  Monson,  were  his  bitter 
enemies,  and  by  them  a  denial  would  have  been  received  with 
scorn.  A  denial  would,  moreover,  have  looked  like  an  admission 
that  he  was  bound  to  answer  before  his  enemies.  They  from  the 
first  had  by  their  acts  adjudged  him  guilty,  and  a  man  of  so 
haughty  a  spirit  and  a  nature  so  cautious  would  not  unnaturally 
say,  *  Except  before  a  Committee  to  whose  impartiality  I  can 
trust,  I  will  give  no  answer  of  any  kind  to  such  a  charge. '  It 
may  also  be,  as  Sir  J.  Stephen  supposes,  that  his  silence 
"  arose  from  the  fact  that  he  had  received  from  the  Begam  the 
lakh  and  a  half  for  entertainment,  . . .  and  that  as  he  could  not 
absolutely  deny  every  part  of  Nand  Kumar's  story  he  thought  it 
better  not  to  make  a  qualified  partial  denial  of  it,  and  to  leave 
his  enemies  to  prove  what  they  could."  At  his  impeachment  he 
denied  to  his  counsel  that  he  had  received  any  money  whatever 
from  Nand  Kumar,  or  from  the  Begam,  except  the  lakh  and  a 
half  already  mentioned.  "  That  a  consciousness  of  guilt  should 
have  prevented  Hastings,"  says  Sir  J.  Stephen,  "from  making 
these  statements  in  1775,  when  he  was  in  great  danger  of  losing 
his  office,  and  that  it  should  not  have  prevented  him  from  making 
them  to  his  own  counsel  when  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  false- 
hood and  nothing  to  be  feared  from  sincerity,  appears  to  me  in- 
credible." The  next  point  for  consideration  in  Nand  Kumar's 
accusation  is  this.  Had  that  accusation,  as  was  suggested, 
brought  Hastings  into  such  straits  that  no  escape  was  left  him 
but  by  murdering  Nand  Kumar  by  the  help  of  Impey  ?  "  Upon 
this  question,"  says  Sir  J.  Stephen,*  "  the  following  matters  are 
to  be  considered.  First,  Hastings,  upon  the  supposition  of  his 
guilt,  would  not  be  saved  by  Nuncomar's  death  from  the  only 
danger  to  which  Nuncomar's  charges  exposed  him,  the  danger, 
namely,  of  being  recalled  in  disgrace  by  the  Directors,  and  being 
saddled  with  a  chancery  suit  for  the  payment  of  about  £40,000 
on  his  return  home.  ...  The  evidence  of  Nuncomar  was  already 
given.  The  persons  he  had  named  might  be  interrogated.  If 
the  Court  of  Directors  attached  weight  to  Nuncomar's  evidence 
it  was  not  likely  that  his  judicial  murder,  supposing  it  to  be 
successfully  carried  out,  would  lessen  its  weight.  If  they  did  not 
attach  weight  to  it  there  was  no  occasion  to  perform,  or  try  to 
perform,  that  most  critical  and  difficult  operation.  Some  con- 
firmation is  given  to  this  by  the  circumstance  that  on  the  27th 
March,  a  fortnight  after  Nuncomar's  accusation,  Hastings  wrote 
to  his  agents  in  England,  giving  them  (in  a  most  irregular, 
unbusiness-like  form)  authority  to  resign  his  office  'if  the  first 
advices  from  England  contain  a  disapprobation  of  the  treaty  of 
Benares  or  of  the  Rohilla  war,  and  mark  an  evident  disinclination 
towards  me. '    A  man  was  hardly  likely  to  plan  a  judicial  murder 

*  Pp.  74,  5. 
O 


210  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

in  order  to  avoid  the  possible  loss  of  an  office  which  he  had 
authorised  his  agent  to  resign  upon  a  contingency  unconnected 
with  the  person  to  be  murdered.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be 
noticed  that  his  authority  was  withdrawn,  and  that  Hastings 
announced  his  intention  of  staying  where  he  was,  on  the  ISth 
May,  Nuncomar  having  been  committed  for  trial  in  the  interval, 
and  being,  as  Hastings  observes  in  his  letter,  '  in  a  fair  way  to  be 
hanged.'  "  Of  this  letter  Sir  J.  Stephen  adds  in  a  footnote,  "  It 
certainly  shows  that  Hastings  was  pleased  at  Nuncomar's  being 
*  in  a  fair  way  to  be  hanged  ' ;  but  if  he  had  been  actually  engaged 
at  the  time  in  a  conspiracy  to  murder  him,  he  would  hardly  have 
chuckled  over  the  matter  to  his  agents.  I  should  have  expected 
him  to  avoid  the  topic.  The  tone  of  the  letter  is  rather  that  of 
a  man  who  has  met  with  a  piece  of  unexpected  good  luck  than 
that  of  a  murderer  who  has  taken  the  rirst  step  towards  the 
execution  of  his  design  and  sees  its  consummation — a  doubtful 
and  dangerous  process,  drawing  unpleasantly  near."  Burke  and 
Mill  severely  censured  Hastings  for  stifling  inquiry  into  Nand 
Kumar's  accusation,  by  refusing  to  allow  his  accuser  to  appear 
before  himself  in  Council  in  support  of  his  charges.  Hastings 
naturally  resented  such  an  indignity,  and  to  myself  there  scarcely 
seems  need  for  any  serious  argument.  Sir  J.  Stephen,  however, 
and  Mr.  Forrest  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  take  up  the  point, 
and  I  quote  from  the  latter's  admirable  Introduction  to  his  Ad- 
ministration of  Warren  Hastings,  published  last  year.  "  Even  if 
Nundcoomar  had  borne  an  unblemished  character,  Hastings  would 
have  been  justified  in  refusing  to  submit  to  the  disgrace  and 
mortification  of  the  head  of  a  Government  being  accused  in  person 
during  the  sitting  of  the  Council  over  which  he  presided.  Such 
a  procedure  must  have  brought  his  office  into  contempt  and  injured 
the  dignity  of  station  which  a  man  has  interest  to  preserve.  It 
moreover  was  unnecessary  for  the  purpose  either  of  eliciting 
truth  or  of  promoting  justice.  A  Committee  of  inquiry,  consisting 
of  the  Council  without  Hastings,  would  have  been  equally 
efficacious  for  these  purposes.  Hastings  did  not  dispute  the  right 
of  his  colleagues  to  make  an  inquiry  into  the  charges  of  corruption 
brought  against  him,  nor  did  he,  as  Mill  states,  *  raise  any 
pretences  for  stifling  inquiry.'  He  only  pointed  out  the  mode  of 
conducting  it  which  would  be  least  injurious  to  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  Government.  As  Hastings  wrote  to  the  Directors 
— '  Had  the  majority  been  disposed  to  accept  of  my  proposition 
of  appointing  a  Committee  for  prosecuting  their  inquiries  either 
into  these  or  the  Ranny's  allegations,  they  might  have  obtained 
the  same  knowledge  and  all  the  satisfaction  in  this  way  that  they 
could  have  expected  from  an  inquisition  taken  by  the  Board  at 
large,  their  proceedings  would  have  had  the  appearance  at  least 
of  regularity,  and  my  credit  would  have  been  less  affected  by 
them.     The  only  point  which  they  could  possibly  gain  by  per- 


APPENDIX  II.  211 

sisting  in  bringing  such  a  subject  before  the  Board  was  to  gain  a 
public  triumph  over  me,  and  expose  my  place  and  person  to 
insult.' " 

Of  the  two  accusations  brought  against  Nand  Kumar  the  first 
was  a  charge  of  conspiring  with  other  persons  to  make  false  accu- 
sations against  Hastings  and  Barwell.  It  had  its  origin  in  certain 
representations  made  to  Hastings  by  one  Kamal-ud-din  who  com- 
plained that  two  Europeans,  father  and  son,  named  Fowke,  Nand 
Kumar,  and  Radha  Charan  had  compelled  him  by  threats  to  sign 
a  document  stating  that  he  had  bribed  Hastings  and  Barwell,  and 
also  had  forced  him  to  testify  to  the  correctness  of  a  certain 
account.  Hastings  referred  Kamal-ud-din  to  the  Chief  Justice, 
and  he  with  the  other  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  acting  as 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  investigated  the  complaint,  summoning 
Hastings  and  Barwell  to  be  present.  The  younger  Fowke  was 
discharged,  and  Hastings  and  Barwell  were  called  upon  to  say 
whether  they  would  prosecute  the  others.  This  they  bound 
themselves  over  to  do,  and  at  the  assizes  all  the  defendants  were 
acquitted  of  the  charge  of  conspiracy  against  Hastings ;  Radha 
Charan  was  acquitted,  and  Nand  Kumar  and  the  elder  Fowke 
were  convicted,  of  conspiracy  against  Barwell.  At  this  prosecu- 
tion of  their  favourite  and  tool  the  majority  in  the  Council  were 
fiercely  indignant.  They  regarded  it  as  a  counterstroke  to  Nand 
Kumar's  attack  on  Hastings,  as  no  doubt  it  was  ;  and,  it  may  be 
said,  a  perfectly  fair  counterstroke  if  Hastings  believed  Kamal- 
ud-din's  complaint  to  be  true,  as  in  all  appearance  it  certainly 
was.  But  their  indignation  would  have  been  far  less  intense  if  it 
had  not  been  that  a  few  days  later  a  much  more  dangerous  prose- 
cution followed.  This  second  attack  was  by  them  at  once  put 
down  to  the  instigation  of  Hastings,  while  others  were  persuaded 
that  the  ostensible  prosecutor  would  not  have  dared  to  resort  to 
it  but  for  the  encouragement  afforded  by  the  success  which  Hast- 
ings had  scored.  The  charge  now  brought  forward  was  one  of 
forgery,  the  accuser  an  attorney  named  Mohan  Prasad.  For  more 
than  two  years  Mohan  Prasad  had  been  trying  to  get  hold  of  cer- 
tain documents  necessary  to  his  case,  which  originally  was  a  civil 
suit  against  Nand  Kumar  for  upwards  of  a  lakh  of  rupees  said  to  be 
due  to  the  estate  of  Mohan  Prasad's  principal,  a  banker  named 
Bulaqi  Das.  During  the  litigation,  an  imputation  of  forgery  had 
been  cast  upon  Nand  Kumar,  and  Mohan  Prasad  now  determined 
upon  a  criminal  prosecution.  But  the  long- desired  documents 
were  still  wanting,  and  it  was  not  till  many  months  later  that,  on 
the  establishment  of  the  Supreme  Court,  they  came  into  his  posses- 
sion. He  at  once  carried  out  his  intention ;  Nand  Kumar  was 
brought  before  the  magistrates  and  committed  for  trial  in  the 
ordinary  course.  The  indictment  consisted  of  twenty  counts,  all 
of  which  had  reference  to  the  forging  of  a  bond  with  intent  to 
defraud  or  to  the  publishing  of  a  forged  bond  with  the  same 


212  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

intent.  "The  question  in  the  case,"  says  Sir  J.  Stephen,  "was 
whether  the  deed  was  really  forged.  There  could  he  no  question 
that  it  was  published,  or  that  if  it  was  a  forgery  Nuncomar  knew 
of  it."  The  trial  was  held  before  the  full  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  consisting  of  the  Chief  Justice  and  three  Puisne  Judges, 
not,  as  Macaulay  unfairly  states,  before  "  Sir  Elijah  Impey."  It 
lasted  for  seven  days,  and  the  Judges  were  unanimous.  The 
prisoner  was  defended  by  the  best  talent  then  to  be  had  in  Cal- 
cutta, the  examination  and  cross-examination  of  witnesses  were 
minute  and  protracted,  the  attitude  of  the  Court  seems  to  have 
inclined  to  leniency,  and  the  verdict  was  that  of  an  English  jury. 
Sir  J.  Stephen  gives  a  full  analysis  of  all  the  evidence,  and  Sir 
E.  Impey's  summing-up  in  extenso.  In  regard  to  any  collusion 
between  Hastings  and  the  prosecutor,  he  points  out  that  the 
counsel  for  the  defence  from  first  to  last  "never  suggested,  either 
directly  or  by  a  single  question  in  cross-examination,  that  the 
accusation  against  Nuncomar  was  a  malicious  prosecution  got  up 
to  silence  the  accuser  of  Hastings.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
urgently  to  the  purpose,  nothing,  if  the  fact  were  so,  could  be 
more  easy  to  prove.  Mohun  Persaud  was  not  only  the  prosecutor, 
but  one  of  the  principal  witnesses  for  the  prosecution.  He  was 
recalled  eight  or  nine  times  in  the  course  of  the  trial.  Nuncomar 
(as  I  have  already  said)  stated  as  the  principal  occasion  of  his 
accusation  of  Hastings,  the  favour  which  he  had  shown  to  Mohun 
Persaud.  Questions  asked  with  common  skill  might  have  brought 
out  Mohun  Persaud's  intimacy  with  Hastings,  his  knowledge  of 
Nuncomar's  having  accused  Hastings  of  corruption,  the  fact  (if  it 
was  a  fact),  tnat  he  had  held  communication  with  Hastings  on  the 
subject — in  a  word,  anything  which  was  known  or  suspected  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  prosecution.  Not  a  question  of  the  sort  was 
asked,  and  surely  this  proves  that  Nuncomar  and  his  attorney  had 
no  definite  knowledge  or  distinct  suspicion  on  the  subject  ...Put- 
ting all  these  matters*  together,"  he  concludes,  "my  own  opinion 
is  that  no  man  ever  had,  or  could  have,  a  fairer  trial  than  Nun- 
comar, and  that  Impey  in  particular  behaved  with  absolute  fair- 
ness and  as  much  indulgence  as  was  compatible  with  his  duty  . . . 
There  is  not  a  word  in  his  summing-up  of  which  I  should  have 
been  ashamed  had  I  said  it  myself,  and  all  my  study  of  the  case 
has  not  suggested  to  me  a  single  observation  in  Nuncomar's  favour 
which  is  not  noticed  by  Impey.  As  to  the  verdict,  I  think  that 
there  was  ample  evidence  to  support  it.  Whether  it  was  in  fact 
correct  is  a  point  on  which  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  an 
unqualified  opinion,  as  it  is  of  course  impossible  now  to  judge 
decidedly  of  the  credit  of  witnesses,  and  as  I  do  not  understand 
some  part  of  the  exhibits. "...  In  agreement  with  Sir  J.  Stephen's 
verdict  is  the  opinion  of  Sir  A.  Lyall,  of  whose  candid  impartiality 

*  Much  to  which  Sir  J.  Stephen  here  refers  has  been  necessarily  omitted. 


APPENDIX  II.  213 

I  have  already  spoken.  "It  may  be  accepted,"  he  says,  "upon 
Sir  James  Stephen's  authority,  that  no  evidence  can  be  produced 
to  justify  conclusions  adverse  to  the  innocence  of  Hastings  upon 
a  charge  that  has  from  its  nature  affected  the  popular  tradition 
regarding  him  far  more  deeply  than  the  accusations  of  high- 
handed oppressive  political  transactions,  which  are  little  under- 
stood and  leniently  condemned  by  the  English  at  large.  There  is 
really  nothing  to  prove  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
prosecution,  or  that  he  influenced  the  sentence  ;  for  the  circum- 
stances which  have  been  strung  together  to  support  the  belief  in 
his  guilt  are  all  reconcilable  with  a  theory  of  his  innocence." ... 
So,  too,  with  reference  to  Sir  J.  Stephen's  work,  Sir  J.  Strachey 
remarks,  ' '  One  at  least  of  the  imaginary  crimes  to  which  I  have 
referred — the  judicial  murder  of  Nandkumar  by  Impey  and  Hast- 
ings— will  hardly  again  appear  in  sober  history."  To  the  same 
effect  write  Captain  Trotter  and  Mr.  Forrest — all  of  whom  have 
had  occasion  to  study  the  subject  with  care,  and  all  of  whom  have 
a  wide  and  intimate  knowledge  of  Indian  character  and  Indian 
life. 


APPENDIX  III. 

THE  IMPEACHMENT  OF  IMPEY. 

Closely  connected  with  the  trial  of  Nand  Kumar  was  the 
impeachment  of  Impey.  Stripped  of  all  verbiage,  the  charges 
on  which  this  impeachment  was  based  are,  in  Sir  J.  Stephen's 
words,  "first,  that  he  acted  illegally  in  trying  Nand  Kumar 
at  all :  secondly,  that  he  misconducted  himself  at  the  trial : 
thirdly,  that  he  conspired  with  Hastings  to  cause  Nand  Kumar 
to  be  prosecuted  on  a  capital  charge  :  fourthly,  that  from  a 
corrupt  wish  to  screen  Hastings  he  refused  to  give  Nand  Kumar 
leave  to  appeal,  and  refused  to  respite  Nand  Kumar."  Five 
other  charges  were  stated  against  Impey.  They  will  be  noticed 
hereafter ;  but  as  not  one  of  them  was  ever  proceeded  with, 
it  will  be  convenient  to  keep  them  separate.  In  Impey's  behalf 
it  is  especially  important  that  every  fact  should  be  cleared  up, 
because  Macaulay,  while  bitterly  inveighing  against  Hastings, 
has  shown  himself  capable  of  fully  appreciating  his  many  great 
qualities,  and  has,  so  to  speak,  allowed  his  statesmanlike 
government  as  a  set-off  against  his  crimes ;  whereas  in  regard 
to  Impey  the  bitterness,  even  intensified,  stands  out  at  every 
point  without  being  relieved  by   any  admiration  of    services 


214  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

which,  though  less  brilliant  than  those  of  Hastings,  were 
certainly  meritorious.  Macaulay  never  loses  an  opportunity 
for  sneers,  imputations  of  unworthy  motive,  suggestions  of 
innate  meanness.  He  goes  out  of  the  way,  indeed,  to  imagine 
to  himself  and  to  paint  for  his  readers  a  portrait  that  has  no 
resemblance  to  what  is  really  known  of  its  original ;  and  in  any 
other  writer  but  one  of  such  genuine  kindliness  of  heart  the 
animation  and  minuteness  with  which  he  fills  in  his  damnatory 
details  might  reasonably  be  ascribed  to  a  personal  animosity. 
In  justice  therefore  to  a  man  whose  memory  has  long  suffered 
undeserved  obloquy,  it  will  probably  be  forgiven  if  my  review 
of  the  case,  founded  on  Sir  J.  Stephen's  book,  shall  seem 
somewhat  tedious.  The  first  charge  against  Impey  is  that  he 
acted  illegally  in  trying  Nand  Kumar  at  all.  Two  preliminary 
points  half  alleged,  half  insinuated,  by  Impey's  prosecutors, 
may  be  passed  over  with  slight  notice.  The  former  is  that 
Impey  ought  to  have  quashed  the  indictment  because  "it  was 
considered"  by  some  unknown  and  unmentioned  persons  "as 
a  political  measure,"  and  because  circumstances  existed  which 
*  •  could  leave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  and  opinion  of  any  person 
acquainted  therewith"  (which  Impey  was  not  alleged  to  be), 
"  that  the  said  prosecution  was  set  on  foot  with  the  view  of 
defeating  the  said  accusation"  (against  Hastings).  The  latter 
is  that  even  if  the  law  of  England  justified  Impey's  course,  it 
was  so  opposed  to  natural  justice  that  he  was  a  criminal  for 
putting  it  in  force.  In  regard  to  the  former  objection  "it  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  assumes  first — that  judges  ought  to  take 
judicial  notice  of  rumours  imputing  malicious  motives  to  pro- 
secutors ;  secondly,  that  the  fact  (proved  by  such  rumours)  that 
a  prosecutor  is  actuated  by  a  malicious  motive  establishes  the 
innocence  of  the  person  accused ;  and  thirdly,  that  if  the  judge 
is  convinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  accused  by  a  rumour  that 
the  prosecutor  is  malicious,  it  becomes  the  judge's  duty  to 
'quash  the  indictment,'  by  which  I  suppose  the  author  of  the 
charge  meant  to  prevent  the  case  from  being  tried,  for  the 
quashing  of  one  indictment  does  not  interfere  with  the  pre- 
sentment of  another  for  the  same  offence."  In  regard  to  the 
latter,  "To  punish  a  judge  for  enforcing  a  bad  law  implies  a 
right  and  duty  on  the  part  of  the  judge  to  decide  whether  the 
law  is  good  or  not ;  and  this  puts  the  judge  above  the  legis- 
lature."* The  second  charge  was  that  the  criminal  law  of 
England  as  regards  forgery  was  not  in  force  as  part  of  the 
law  administered  by  the  Supreme  Court,  or  not  in  force  at  the 
time  when  the  forgery  in  question  was  supposed  to  be  com- 
mitted. Impey's  contention  in  his  defence  was  that  as  regards 
Calcutta  it  was  in  force  at  the  date  on  which  the  bond  was 

*  The  Story  of  Runcomar,  ii.  16,  7. 


APPENDIX  lit.  215 

uttered.  The  question  is  too  technical,  and  too  much  encum- 
bered with  legal  rulings,  for  any  discussion  here.  Sir  J. 
Stephen,  who  sets  forth  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  says, 
"Upon  fully  considering  all  these  matters,  I  think  that  as  a 
matter  of  legal  theory  Impey's  view  was,  to  say  the  least, 
defensible.  It  was  certainly  inconsistent  with  later  decisions, 
but  if  it  is  regarded  as  being  on  that  account  wrong,  I  think 
that  the  mistake  into  which  the  Court  fell  was  innocent  and 
in  good  faith."  "It  must,  however,"  he  adds,  "be  said  that 
in  a  doubtful  and  novel  matter  of  this  sort  the  Court  would 
have  acted  wisely  in  saying  that  an  indictment  for  the  forgery 
as  a  misdemeanour  at  common  law  would  be  the  proper  course 
to  take.  A  conviction  upon  such  an  indictment  would  have 
been  followed  by  fine  and  imprisonment  to  any  extent  which 
the  Court  thought  proper,  and  this  would,  I  think,  have  been 
under  all  the  circumstances  a  punishment  sufficient  for  the 
ends  of  justice."  ...  It  should,  however,  be  pointed  out  that  if 
Impey's  opinion  was  wrong,  his  brother  judges  were  equally  to 
blame,  and  that  neither  they  nor  the  counsel  for  the  defence 
raised  the  question  as  to  the  date  at  which  English  law  was 
introduced  into  Calcutta,  the  only  point  mooted  being  that  of 
Chambers  as  to  the  suitability  of  the  English  law  of  forgery 
for  Calcutta.  The  next  charge  against  Impey  was  that  he 
summed  up  with  "  scandalous  partiality  "  and  manifested  great 
anxiety  to  secure  Nand  Kumar's  conviction.  This  question 
has  already  been  dealt  with  and  Sir  J.  Stephen's  view  of  the 
case  given.  The  third  charge  was  that  of  a  conspiracy  between 
Hastings  and  Impey  to  cause  Nand  Kumar  to  be  tried  and 
convicted  on  a  capital  charge.  As  regards  Hastings.  It  was 
not  pretended  that  there  was  any  distinct  proof  of  this  con- 
spiracy, nor  even  directly  alleged  in  the  articles  of  charge 
that  such  a  conspiracy  ever  existed.  The  allegation  made 
was  that  there  was  ground  for  a  suspicion  of  conspiracy  in 
the  interest  of  Hastings  in  getting  rid  of  Nand  Kumar,  and  in 
the  coincidence  in  point  of  time  between  the  accusation  of 
Hastings  by  Nand  Kumar  and  that  of  Nand  Kumar  by  Mohan 
Prasad.  So  vague  a  suspicion  would  probably  have  long  since 
passed  from  the  minds  of  all  dispassionate  persons  if  it  had 
not  been  for  one  circumstance  of  which  Macaulay  has  made 
so  much.  "Hastings,"  he  says,  "three  or  four  years  later 
described  Impey  as  the  man  to  whose  support  he  was  at  one 
time  indebted  for  the  safety  of  his  *  fortune,  honour,  and 
reputation.'  These  strong  words  can  refer  only  to  the  case 
of  Nuncomar,  and  they  must  mean  that  Impey  hanged  Nun- 
comar  in  order  to  support  Hastings."  On  this  Sir  J.  Stephen 
remarks,*    "  The  argument  founded  on  this  letter  appears  to 

*  ii.  pp.  44,  5. 


216  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

me  to  be  worthless.  The  exact  date  of  the  letter  is  not  given 
by  Mr.  Gleig,  but  it  must  have  been  written  in  1780,  at  the 
height  of  the  contest  between  the  Governor-General  and 
Council  and  the  Supreme  Court  to  which  it  relates.  ...  It  is 
remarkable  that  a  passage  to  the  same  effect  appears  in  a 
letter  from  Impey  to  Dunning  in  March,  1780.  Impey  says, 
'  The  power  which  is  exerted  against  me  would  not  have 
existed  in  the  hands  in  which  it  is  if  I  had  not  helped  to  keep 
it  there,  and  it  was  used  against  me  at  the  time  when  I  was 
living,  in  all  appearance,  in  the  utmost  confidence  of  familiarity 
with  the  possessor  of  it.'...  Is  this  the  language  of  two  mur- 
derers about  each  other?  Would  one  such  wretch  look  back 
with  affectionate  regret  to  the  happy  time  when  by  the  hand 
of  the  other  he  assassinated  their  common  victim  ?  ...  If  there 
was  such  a  bond  of  infamy  between  two  men,  each  would  shun 
all  reference  to  it,  especially  to  a  third  person,  as  he  would 
shun  the  avowal  even  to  himself  of  any  other  abominable  and 
horrible  crime.  Macaulay's  supposition  is  not  only  revolting 
and  improbable,  but  also  quite  unnecessary.  Each  of  these 
passages,  to  my  mind,  obviously  refers  to  the  support 
given  to  Hastings  by  Impey  and  the  rest  of  the  judges, 
when  Clavering  tried  to  dispossess  Hastings  from  the  office  of 
Governor-General,  in  the  summer  of  1777,  in  the  manner  related 
by  Macaulay  himself,  and  when  Hastings  was  secured  in  his 
office  entirely  by  the  view  taken  of  the  case  by  the  judges  to 
whom  the  rival  claims  of  the  parties  were  referred."  Admitting 
the  probability  of  this  explanation,  Sir  A.  Lyall  observes,*  "  But 
the  words  certainly  read  more  like  a  reference  to  some  confidential 
transaction  than  to  such  a  public  and  formal  proceeding  as  the 
Court's  finding  upon  a  case  submitted  for  opinion."  I  do  not 
myself  see  why  the  reference  should  be  to  a  ' '  confidential  transac- 
tion." At  the  same  time,  there  lurks  something  suspicious  in 
the  words  "honour  and  reputation."  Hastings  would  no  doubt 
have  been  ruined  in  *  ■  fortune  "  had  the  judges  decided  against 
him.  But  in  what  way  would  his  *  ■  honour  and  reputation " 
have  suffered?  Possibly — an  alternative  suggested  by  Sir  A. 
Lyall — Hastings  might  have  alluded  to  Impey's  support  in  the 
matter  of  Nand  Kumar  if  it  had  been  given  without  any  collusion 
or  private  understanding.  To  return  to  Impey.  If  the  evidence 
of  conspiracy  is,  as  regards  Hastings,  without  any  solid  founda- 
tion, as  regards  Impey  the  facts  are  all  against  it.  For  "the 
argument  assumes  that  Impey  had  something  to  do  with  the 
early  steps  in  the  case,  and  so  with  the  time  when  the  case  was 
brought  before  him.  This  is  contrary  to  the  fact.  Whatever 
wickedness  is  imputed  to  Impey,  he  could  not  interfere  with  the 
time  when  the  prosecution  began.     His  opportunity  of  miscon- 

*  Warren  Heatings,  p,  59. 


APPENDIX  IIL  217 

ducting  himself  would  not  arise  till  the  prisoner  was  brought 
before  him  by  others.  He  was  not  even  the  committing  magistrate. 
Nuncomar  was  committed  by  Hyde  and  Lemaistre,  who  could  not, 
when  Mohun  Persaud  swore  an  information  before  them,  refuse 
to  proceed,  or,  if  they  thought  it  a  case  for  committal,  to  commit. 
When  Nuncomar  was  committed,  his  trial  at  the  next  session 
was  a  matter  of  course,  over  which  none  of  the  judges  had  any 

influence  whatever These  considerations  are  enough  to  show 

that  even  if  the  coincidence  in  time  between  the  two  accusations 
were  unexplained  it  would  prove  nothing  against  either  Hastings 
or  Impey,  but  it  was  explained  by  the  evidence  of  Boughton 
Rose  and  Farrer  already  referred  to ...  In  particular  Farrer  proved 
that  the  prosecution  of  Nuncomar  for  forgery  had  been  determined 
on  long  before  Nuncomar  accused  Hastings  of  corruption,  and 
explained  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  warrant  not  being 
issued  till  May,  1775.  It  must  have  been  issued  within  a  very 
few  days  after  the  forged  deed  was  procured  by  the  solicitor 
of  the  prosecutor,  and  it  could  not  have  been  issued  before. 
For  these  reasons  it  appears  to  me  that  there  was  absolutely 
no  evidence  that  there  was  any  conspiracy  between  Hastings 
and  Impey  in  reference  to  Nuncomar's  trial."*  The  last  of  this 
group  of  charges  is  that  Impey  refused  to  respite  Nand  Kumar. 
Macaulay's  remarks  on  this  point  will  be  found  on  p.  41,  2, 
and  "That  Impey  ought  to  have  respited  Nuncomar... mercy  or 
delay,"  and  on  p.  44,  11.  14-27,  "Of  Impey's  conduct... to  serve  a 
political  purpose."  With  reference  to  those  remarks  the  first 
point  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  if  the  refusal  to  respite 
was  wrong,  all  the  four  judges  were  equally  to  blame.  Alone 
Impey  had  no  such  power.  As  to  mercy,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  Impey  "would  not  hear  of  it"  ;  as  to  delay,  there  was 
an  interval  of  six  weeks  between  conviction  and  execution. 
Whether  the  whole  Court  were  wrong,  can  only  be  a  matter 
of  opinion.  They  had  a  discretionary  power  which  they  did 
not  think  fit  to  exercise  for  Nand  Kumar's  benefit.  To  impute 
motives  is  easy  enough,  but  if  they  are  to  be  imputed  "  we 
must  either  say  that  all  four  had  motives  for  what  they  did, 
other  than  a  wish  to  screen  Hastings,  or  else  that  all  four 
corruptly  determined  to  withhold  a  reprieve  in  order  to  screen 
Hastings.  To  say  that  three  were  actuated  by  other  motives 
and  one  by  a  desire  to  screen  Hastings  is  to  make  an  assump- 
tion as  gratuitous  as  it  is  unjust."  Moreover,  Sir  J.  Stephen 
points  out,  the  execution  of  Nand  Kumar  was  not  necessary 
to  save  Hastings.  Had  the  Court  respited  him  and  recom- 
mended imprisonment  for  a  term  of  years,  with  a  heavy  fine, 
Hastings  would  have  been  protected  as  effectually  as  by  his 
death.     Sir  J.   Stephen   goes  on  to  show  that  nearly  all  the 

*  The  Story  of  Nuncomar,  ii.  41,  2. 


218  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

statements  made  by  Macaulay  in  the  former  of  these  two 
paragraphs  were  incorrect,  and  finally  sums  up  on  the  whole 
story  from  the  accusation  brought  against  Hastings  down  to 
the  execution  of  his  accuser.  This  summing  up  is  in  the  main 
a  recapitulation  of  conclusions  already  stated  in  following  out 
the  different  points  seriatim,  and  want  of  space  prevents  my 
giving  it  in  full  length.  One  small  matter  remains  as  regards 
the  refusal  of  the  Court  to  respite  Nand  Kumar.  This  refusal 
need  not  have  been  final,  for  the  majority  of  the  Council  had 
it  in  their  power  to  ensure  a  reprieve  by  addressing  the 
Supreme  Court  on  the  subject.  This  they  declined  to  do,  and 
they,  much  rather  than  Hastings  or  the  Supreme  Court,  are 
answerable  for  Nand  Kumar's  death. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  besides  the  charges 
against  Impey  which  have  now  been  considered,  there  were 
five  other  charges  which,  though  not  proceeded  with,  were 
originally  a  part  of  Impey's  impeachment.  These  charges  were, 
first,  that  Impey  had  misconducted  himself  in  a  cause  known 
as  the  Patna  Cause ;  secondly,  that  he  had  unwarrantably  and 
for  corrupt  purposes  of  his  own  extended  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Supreme  Court ;  thirdly,  that  he  had  misconducted  him- 
self in  a  cause  called  the  Kasijura  Cause  ;  fourthly,  that  he 
had  corruptly  accepted  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  Sadr  Diwani 
Adalat ;  fifthly,  that  he  had  corruptly  abetted  Hastings  in 
certain  proceedings  for  which  Hastings  was  then  under  im- 
peachment, by  improperly  taking  affidavits  intended  for  his 
justification.  With  the  first  three  of  these  charges  we  have 
nothing  to  do  since  no  reference  is  made  to  them  in  Mac- 
aulay's  essay.  Out  of  the  fourth  and  fifth,  however,  Macaulay 
has  framed  a  powerful  indictment  against  both  Hastings  and 
Impey.  That  this  indictment  has  no  basis  in  truth  I  shall 
endeavour  to  show.  For  this  purpose  I  shall  first  quote  Sir 
A.  LyalPs  succinct  statement  of  the  circumstances  which  led 
up  to  the  appointment  of  Impey  as  Judge  of  the  Sadr  Diwani 
Adalat,  and  then,  with  Sir  J.  Stephen's  help  expose  the 
fallacies  of  Macaulay's  diatribe. 

"  It  should  here  be  mentioned,"  says  Sir  A.  Lyall,*  "that  in  1779 
the  dissensions  between  the  Court  and  the  Council  in  Calcutta  had 
risen  to  the  degree  of  actual  collision  between  the  two  authorities ; 
that  in  this  quarrel  Hastings  had  made  common  cause  with  Francis 
against  the  judges,  and  that  he  had  consequently  broken  off  his  alliance 
with  Impey,  who  much  lamented  this  rupture  of  their  personal  friend- 
ship and  reciprocal  understanding  upon  public  affairs.  The  Governor- 
General  in  Council  had  published  a  proclamation  authorising  disregard 
of  the  Court's  process,  and  had  supported  it  by  an  armed  force.  The 
Court  issued  warrants  for  apprehending  the  Company's  soldiers  ;  and 
summonses  on  a  plea  of  trespass  were  served  on  the  Governor-General 

*  Warren  Hastings,  pp.  113-110. 


APPENDIX  lit  219 

and  his  Council,  which  they  refused  to  obey  ...  The  Governor- General 
in  Council  accused  the  judges  of  arrogating  to  themselves  the  right  to 
review  the  orders  and  proceedings  of  executive  officers,  and  of  the 
provincial  councils  which  disposed  of  the  revenue  and  judicial  business 
in  all  the  districts.  The  judges  retorted  that  the  government  expected 
to  indulge  their  subordinates  with  impunity  in  mere  lawlessness  and 
licentious  oppression  ...  Sir  James  Stephen  has  decided  that  the 
Court  was  on  the  whole  less  to  blame  than  the  Company's  officers ; 
and  he  discovers  the  real  offenders  in  the  authors  of  the  clumsy  and 
ill-drawn  Regulating  Act  of  1773,  which  bestowed  powers  without 
circumscribing  the  jurisdictions,  and  which  purposely  left  uncertain 
the  supreme  jurisdiction,  that  is  to  say,  the  sovereignty  of  the  country. 
However  this  may  be,  the  judges  had  so  roughly  handled  the  district 
courts  of  justice,  which  were  presided  over  by  the  revenue  officers  of 
the  Company,  that  Hastings  saw  the  necessity  of  establishing  separate 
civil  courts ;  and  these  courts  were  soon  found  to  require  proper 
judicial  superintendence.  There  had  for  a  long  time  existed  a  central 
court  of  appeal  in  civil  suits,  called  the  Sudder  Diwdni  Addlat,  whose 
powers  had  since  1773  been  vested  in  the  Governor-General  in  Council, 
but  had  never  been  exercised  in  any  regular  manner.  Hastings  con- 
ceived the  luminous  idea  of  transferring  these  powers,  with  a  salary 
of  £6000  yearly,  to  the  Chief -Justice  ;  and  six  weeks  after  the  duel  he 
announced  his  project  in  Council,  stating,  what  was  perfectly  true, 
that  the  civil  courts  urgently  needed  the  supervision  and  direction  of 
a  trained  expert,  ...  The  office  and  salary  were  to  be  held  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  Governor- General  in  Council.  The  measure  was  at 
once  politic,  practical,  and  effective ;  it  terminated  by  a  master-stroke 
the  conflict  of  jurisdictions ;  it  disarmed  and  conciliated  the  Chief- 
Justice  ;  and  it  undoubtedly  placed  the  country  courts,  which  had 
been  dispensing  a  very  haphazard  and  intuitive  kind  of  justice,  for  the 
first  time  under  a  person  who  could  guide  and  control  them  upon 
recognized  principles  ...  Impey  accepted  the  salary  subject  to  refund 
if  the  arrangement  should  be  disallowed  at  home  ;  and  he  appears  to 
have  undertaken  the  duties  in  an  honourable  spirit.  Any  question  as 
to  the  morality  of  this  transaction  touches  Impey  rather  than 
Hastings  ;  for  even  if  Impey  be  held  guilty  of  having  compounded  his 
controversy  with  the  government  by  accepting  a  lucrative  appointment, 
37et  the  plan  of  uniting  the  Chief-Justiceship  with  the  superintendency 
of  the  district  courts,  taken  on  its  merits,  was  a  good  and  practical 
remedy  of  existing  evils."  ... 

Sir  James  Stephen's  history  of  the  subject  is  probably  the  basis 
of  Sir  A.  Lyall's  resume,  but  it  is  too  long  and  intricate  to  be 
followed  here.  His  criticism  of  Macaulay*  I  give  almost  in 
full. 

"  Macaulay's  account  of  the  quarrel  between  the  Court  and  the 
Council  deserves  to  be  carefully  noticed.  It  supplies  a  strong  instance 
of  the  danger  of  breaking  down  the  boundary  between  history  and 
romance  ...  It  is  a  gloomy  picture  of  horrible  oppression,  causeless, 
purposeless,  mysterious,  and  yet  so  tremendous  that  it  almost  justified 

*  The  Story  of  Nuncomar,  ii.  247-255. 


220  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

the  course  taken  by  Hastings  of  buying  off  by  an  enormous  bribe  the 
infamous  tyrant  by  whom  it  was  carried  on.  The  objection  to  it  is 
that  it  is  absolutely  false  from  end  to  end,  and  in  almost  every  par- 
ticular, as  the  following  instances  will  show.  After  stating  truly  that 
arrest  on  mesne  process  was  the  first  step  in  most  civil  proceedings,  he 
expatiates  on  its  abuses.  He  says  at  great  length  that  to  a  native 
woman  of  rank  it  is  an  intolerable  outrage  that  her  apartment  should 
be  entered  by  strange  men.  He  then  adds :  *  To  these  outrages  the 
most  distinguished  families  of  Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  were  now 
exposed';  and  he  says  that  the  effect  of  the  attempt  which  the 
*  Supreme  Court  made  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of  the 
Company's  territories '  was  like  an  attempt  in  England  to  empower 
any  one  by  merely  swearing  that  a  debt  was  due  to  him,  to  horsewhip 
a  general  officer,  to  put  a  bishop  in  the  stocks,  to  treat  ladies  in  the 
way  which  called  forth  the  blow  of  Wat  Tyler.'  He  then  goes  on  as 
follows:  'A  reign  of  terror  began,  of  terror  heightened  by  mystery, 
for  even  what  was  endured  was  less  horrible  than  what  was  anticipated. 
No  man  knew  what  was  next  to  be  anticipated  from  this  strange 
tribunal.  It  came  from  beyond  the  black  water  as  the  people  of  India 
with  a  mysterious  horror  call  the  sea.  It  consisted  of  judges,  not  one 
of  whom  was  familiar  with  the  ways  of  the  millions  over  whom 
they  claimed  boundless  authority.  Its  records  were  kept  in  un- 
known characters.  Its  sentences  were  pronounced  in  unknown 
words.'  The  general  answer  to  all  this  is  that  the  Supreme  Court 
never  did  claim  any  such  general  jurisdiction  as  is  alleged.  Practically, 
the  most  important  of  its  claims  was  jurisdiction  over  the  collectors  of 
the  revenue  and  officers  of  the  Provincial  Courts,  as  being  servants  to 
the  Company  ...  The  nature  of  the  jurisdiction  claimed  by  the  Court 
protected  women  from  being  sued  before  it.  They  could  not  be 
servants  to  the  Company.  The  only  writ  against  a  woman  was  the 
writ  against  Naderah  Begum,  and  that  was  in  the  Provincial  Court  at 
Patna,  and  not  in  the  Supreme  Court.  How  far  zenanas  were 
incidentally  trespassed  upon,  I  will  examine  immediately.  To  pass  to 
the  details.  What  sense  is  there  in  the  language  about  the  black 
water  and  the  strange  characters?  Did  not  Hastings  and  the  East 
India  Company  come  from  beyond  the  sea  as  well  as  the  judges? 
Were  not  most  of  the  records  of  the  Company  kept,  and  most  of  their 
orders  given,  in  English,  like  those  of  the  Supreme  Court  ?  When  and 
where  did  the  Supreme  Court  claim  boundless  authority  over  the 
natives?  Its  claims  were  quite  distinct,  but  they  cannot  be  stated  in 
a  picturesque  way.  '  No  Mahratta  invasion  had  ever  spread  through 
the  province  such  dismay  as  this  inroad  of  English  lawyers.  All  the 
injustice  of  former  oppressors,  Asiatic  and  European,  appeared  as  a 
blessing  when  compared  with  the  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.'  In 
1779  the  Mahrattas  had  been  kept  out  of  Bengal  for  a  considerable 
time,  but*  from  1742  to  1750  'these  merciless  hordes  of  miscreants 
devastated  the  country  to  the  southward  of  the  Ganges  from  October 
till  June  to  extort  their  "  chout."  One  incident  of  these  invasions  may 
be  mentioned  to  show  how  far  Macaulay's  statement  is  just.  The 
then  Nabob  Aliverdy  Khan  treacherously  murdered  many  of  their 
chiefs.    Thereupon  the  Mahratta  army  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon 

♦Talboys'  Wheeler,  p.  267. 


APPENDIX  IIL  221 

the  unoffending  inhabitants.  They  ravaged  the  country  with  fire  and 
sword,  cutting  off  ears,  noses,  and  hands,  and  committing  countless 
barbarities  in  the  search  of  spoil.  The  wretched  Bengalis  fled  in 
shoals  across  the  Ganges  to  take  refuge  or  perchance  to  perish  in  the 
hills  and  jungles  to  the  northward  of  the  river. '  What  did  the  Supreme 
Court  ever  do  remotely  comparable  to  this  ?  How  many  imprisonments 
on  mesne  process  would  it  take  to  create  more  terror  than  the 
mutilation,  torture,  and  robbery  of  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  of 
innocent  peasants  ?  To  come  to  something  more  specific.  *  There  were 
instances  in  which  men  of  the  most  venerable  dignity,  persecuted  with- 
out a  cause  by  extortioners,  died  of  rage  and  shame  in  the  gripe  of  the 
vile  alguazils  of  Impey.'  The  only  matter  to  which  this  can  refer  is 
the  case  of  Cazi  Sadhi.  He  was  one  of  the  defendants  in  the  Patna 
Cause,  and  was  taken  in  execution  after  bail  had  been  given  for  him 
by  the  Company.  He  died  on  a  boat  on  the  Ganges  on  his  way  to 
Calcutta  whilst  under  a  guard  of  Sepoys.  He  may  have  been  hardly 
dealt  with,  but  to  say  that  he  was  persecuted  by  extortioners  without 
a  cause  is  to  allege  that  the  judgment  in  the  Patna  case  was  wrong, 
and  of  this  judgment  Macaulay  takes  no  notice  at  all.  The  Cazi  was 
sued  for  gross  oppression  and  corruption,  which  the  Court  upon  an 
elaborate  inquiry  thought  he  had  committed.  Macaulay  does  not 
suggest  that  there  was  even  a  question  on  the  subject.  ...  At  all  events 
the  Sepoys  who  had  charge  of  the  boat  in  which  the  Cazi  died  were 
not  the  'vile  alguazils  of  Impey,'  or  officers  of  the  Supreme  Court  at 
all.  They  were  a  guard  put  over  him  by  the  Dacca  Council,  which 
had  given  bail  for  him,  and  which  was  specially  directed  to  treat  him 
as  might  be,  which  it  was  anxious  to  do  ...  This  indefinite  way  of 
writing  *  there  were  instances'  is  singularly  unfair  and  inaccurate. 
Here  is  another  instance  of  it : — 'The  harems  of  noble  Mohammedans, 
sanctuaries  respected  in  the  East  by  governments  which  respected 
nothing  else,  were  burst  open  by  gangs  of  bailiffs,  and  there  were 
instances  in  which  they  shed  their  blood  in  the  doorway  while  defend- 
ing, sword  in  hand,  the  sacred  apartments  of  their  women.'  I  have 
carefully  gone  through  the  whole  of  the  evidence  in  the  report  and 
appendices  referred  to,  in  order  to  test  the  truth  of  these  eloquent 
generalities,  and  I  find  as  follows : — There  was  one  instance  in  which 
one  Mohammedan  of  some  rank  thought  that  his  friend's  zenana  was 
likely  to  be  broken  open,  and  stood  in  the  doorway  sword  in  hand  to 
defend  it.  The  house,  not  the  zenana,  was  broken  open,  and  a  fray 
took  place  in  it,  in  which  the  father  of  the  Mohammedan  in  question 
was  endangered.  The  son  left  his  position  in  the  passage  to  the 
zenana,  took  part  in  the  fray,  and  was  hurt.  It  does  not  appear  that 
the  zenana  was  broken  open,  or  that  any  attempt  to  do  so  was  made. 
There  is  some  though  not  much  foundation  for  the  introductory  part 
of  the  statement.  One  zenana  was  broken  into  by  a  bailiff,  and  a 
slave  girl  was  wounded,  and  the  Advocate-General  suggested  that  the 
matter  should  be  laid  before  the  Court,  which  would,  if  applied  to, 
punish  the  bailiff.  The  Rajah  of  Cossijurah's  zenana  is  said  to  have 
been  entered,  but  no  detail  is  given.  Upon  these  three  cases,  and  no 
other  materials  which  I  can  discover,  is  founded  all  the  eloquence 
about  Wat  Tyler,  a  reign  of  terror,  and  the  cruel  humiliation  of  all 
the  nobility  of  Bengal.  This  way  of  generalising  particular  incidents 
is  bad  enough,  but  the  following  passage  is,  I  think  worse.     'The 


222  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Government  placed  itself  firmly  between  the  tyrannical  tribunal  and 
the  people.  The  Chief-Justice  proceeded  to  the  wildest  excesses. 
The  Governor-General  and  all  the  members  of  Council  were  served 
with  writs  calling  upon  them  to  appear  before  the  King's  justices  and 
to  answer  for  their  public  acts.  This  was  too  much.  Hastings,  with 
just  scorn,  refused  to  obey  the  call,  set  at  liberty  the  persons  wrong- 
fully detained  by  the  Court,  and  took  measures  for  resisting  the  out- 
rageous proceedings  of  the  sheriffs'  officers,  if  necessary,  by  the  sword.' 
This  passage  implies  that  Impey  individually  caused  the  Governor 
and  the  members  of  Council  to  be  '  served  with  writs.'  Neither  Impey 
nor  the  Supreme  Court  did  anything  of  the  kind.  They  expressly 
refused  to  issue  an  attachment  against  the  Governor  or  the  Councillors, 
because  they  were  by  the  Regulating  Act  exempt  from  the  criminal 
jurisdiction  of  the  Court.  The  writs  with  which  Hastings  and  the 
Council  were  served  were  writs  issued  by  Cossinauth,  the  plaintiff  in 
the  action  against  the  Rajah  of  Cossijurah,  for  preventing  him  by 
armed  force  from  compelling  the  Rajah's  appearance.  Neither  Impey 
nor  the  Court  had  any  right  to  refuse  to  issue  a  writ  on  such  a  claim. 
...  It  is  not  true  that  any  one  arrested  by  the  Court  justly  or  not,  in 
this  matter  was  set  at  liberty  by  the  Council.  One  person  only — Nay  lor, 
the  Rajah  of  Cossijurah's  attorney — was  imprisoned,  and  that  was  for 
contempt  in  not  answering  interrogatories.  The  Council  never  set 
him  at  liberty.  They  authorised  him  to  answer  the  interrogatories  in 
order  to  regain  his  liberty.  The  climax  of  injustice  is,  I  think,  reached 
in  the  passage  which  follows  the  one  just  noticed.  After  saying  that 
Hastings  'took  measures  for  resisting  the  outrageous  proceedings  of 
the  sheriffs'  officers,  if  necessary  by  the  sword,'  Macaulay  adds  :  '  But 
he  had  in  view  another  device,  which  might  prevent  the  necessity  of 
an  appeal  to  arms.  He  was  seldom  at  a  loss  for  an  expedient,  and  he 
knew  Impey  well.  The  expedient  in  this  case  was  a  very  simple  one 
— neither  more  nor  less  than  a  bribe.  Impey  was  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment a  judge  independent  of  the  Government  of  Bengal,  and  entitled 
to  a  salary  of  8,000Z.  a  year.  Hastings  proposed  to  make  him  also  a 
judge  in  the  Company's  service,  and  to  give  him  in  that  capacity  about 
8,000?.  a  year  more.  It  was  understood  that  in  consequence  of  this 
new  salary  Impey  would  desist  from  urging  the  high  pretensions 
of  his  Court.  If  he  did  urge  those  pretensions,  the  Government 
could  at  a  moment's  notice  eject  him  from  the  office  which  had  been 
created  for  him.  The  bargain  was  struck  ;  Bengal  was  saved  ;  an 
appeal  to  force  was  averted.  The  Chief  Justice  was  rich,  quiet,  and 
infamous?'  This  charge  is  inconsistent  with  the  dates,  and  asserts 
imaginary  facts.  No  appeal  to  force  was  averted.  On  the  contrary, 
such  an  appeal  was  made.  The  sheriff's  officers  actually  were  resisted 
and  taken  prisoners  by  two  companies  of  sepoys  in  January,  1780. 
Impey  never  did  desist  from  urging  the  high  pretensions  of  the  Court. 
The  Council,  by  military  force,  restrained  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Court,  and  by  a  proclamation  to  all  the  natives  informed  them  that 
they  were  at  liberty  to  set  its  process  at  defiance.  No  bargain  was 
struck.  The  Council  and  the  Court  respectively  had  done  their  very 
worst  by  each  other  nine  months  at  least  before  any  sort  of  offer  was 
or  could  be  made  to  Impey.  Moreover,  the  Court  was  powerless  to  do 
anything  unless  it  was  set  in  motion  by  a  suitor,  but  after  the  course 
taken  in  the  Cossijurah  Cause,  who  would  venture  to  sue  any  one 


APPENDIX  III.  223 

whom  the  Council  had  taken  under  its  protection?  The  plaintiff 
could  not  serve  his  writ.  He  could  not  execute  his  judgment  if  he  got 
one.  Nor  was  any  redress  to  be  had  against  the  individuals  by  whom 
he  was  prevented  from  exercising  his  legal  rights.  The  Governor- 
General  and  his  Council  had  committed  themselves  to  a  forcible 
resistance  to  any  attempt  to  make  themselves  or  their  inferior  agents 
liable  in  damages  to  any  one  who  suffered  by  their  interference.  This 
conduct  was  persisted  in,  and  was  never  modified  in  the  smallest 
degree.  In  that  state  of  things  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  the  Court 
had  to  give  for  which  it  was  worth  the  Council's  while  to  offer  a  bribe. 
Hastings  wanted  nothing  from  Impey.  There  was  nothing  to  be  got 
from  him  except  an  admission  that  the  Council  had  been  right  in  their 
difference  and  the  Court  wrong,  and  this  Hastings  did  not  ask  for,  did 
not  get,  and  did  not  want.     If  he  had  got  it,  it  would  have  been 


The  last  charge  in  the  impeachment  of  Impey,  and  one  on 
which  Macaulay  hangs  some  of  his  bitterest  reproaches,  relates 
to  the  taking  of  certain  affidavits.     Macaulay's  words  are  : — 

"  But  we  must  not  forget  to  do  justice  to  Sir  Elijah  Impey 's  conduct 
on  this  occasion.  It  was  not  indeed  easy  for  him  to  intrude  himself 
into  a  business  so  entirely  alien  from  all  his  official  duties.  But  there 
was  something  inexpressibly  alluring,  we  must  suppose,  in  the  peculiar 
rankness  of  the  infamy  which  was  then  to  be  got  at  Lucknow.  He 
hurried  thither  as  fast  as  relays  of  palanquin-bearers  could  carry  him. 
A  crowd  of  people  came  before  him  with  affidavits  against  the  Begums, 
ready  drawn  in  their  hands.  Those  affidavits  he  did  not  read.  Some 
of  them  indeed  he  could  not  read  ;  for  they  were  in  the  dialects  of 
Northern  India,  and  no  interpreter  was  employed.  He  administered 
the  oath  to  the  deponents  with  all  possible  expedition,  and  asked  not 
a  single  question,  not  even  whether  they  had  perused  the  statements 
to  which  they  swore.  This  work  performed,  he  got  again  into  his 
palanquin  and  posted  back  to  Calcutta,  to  be  in  time  for  the  opening 
of  term.  The  cause  was  one  which,  by  his  own  confession,  lay  alto- 
gether out  of  his  jurisdiction.  Under  the  charter  of  justice,  he  had 
no  more  right  to  enquire  into  crimes  committed  by  Asiatics  in  Oude 
than  the  Lord  President  of  the  Court  of  Session  in  Scotland  to  hold 
an  assize  at  Exeter.  He  had  no  right  to  try  the  Begums,  nor  did  he 
pretend  to  try  them.  With  what  object  then,  did  he  undertake  so 
long  a  journey  ?  Evidently  in  order  that  he  might  give,  in  an  irregular 
manner,  that  sanction  which  in  a  regular  manner  he  could  not  give,  to 
the  crimes  of  those  who  had  recently  hired  him  ;  and  in  order  that  a 
confused  mass  of  testimony  which  he  did  not  sift,  which  he  did  not 
even  read,  might  acquire  an  authority  not  properly  belonging  to  it, 
from  the  signature  of  the  highest  judicial  functionary  in  India." 

Now  from  Macaulay's  account  it  would  be  implied  that  Impey 
volunteered  his  assistance,  and  came  all  the  way  from  Calcutta 
to  give  it.  Neither  is  the  fact.  Impey  was  on  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion of  the  provincial  Courts  and  had  reached  Manghir  when  he 
received  from  Hastings  several  letters  pressing  him  to  come  up 
to  Benares,  where  Hastings  then  was.     Impey  understood  that 


224  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

Hastings  wished  for  his  presence  on  account  of  the  difficulties 
in  which  he  was  then  involved.  He  accordingly  hastened  to 
Chunar,  whither  Hastings  had  retreated.  On  his  arrival  he  was 
consulted  by  the  Governor- General  as  to  the  narrative  of  the 
Benares  affair  which  he  was  then  writing,  and  the  facts  of  which 
he  was  anxious  to  have  properly  authenticated.  Impey  suggested 
affidavits,  and  at  the  request  of  Hastings  proceeded  to  Lucknow 
to  take  them.  It  is  not  true  that  "a  crowd  of  natives  came 
before  him  with  affidavits  against  the  Begums,  ready  drawn  in 
their  hands."  Of  the  forty-three  affidavits  presented,  ten  only 
mentioned  the  Begums,  and  those  only  slightly  and  incidentally. 
It  is  true  that,  as  Macaulay  says,  Impey  did  not  read  them.  But 
Macaulay's  complaint  on  this  point  only  shows  ignorance  of  law. 
Sir  J.  Stephen*  points  out  that  "in  the  common  course  of 
business  when  an  affidavit  is  sworn,  even  in  a  judicial  proceed- 
ing, the  person  before  whom  it  is  sworn  never  knows  its  contents. 
He  has  as  little  to  do  with  it  as  the  attesting  witness  of  a  will  or 
deed  has  to  do  with  the  contents  of  the  document  which  he  attests. 
To  blame  a  man  for  swearing  an  affidavit  in  a  language  of  which 
the  person  before  whom  it  is  sworn  is  ignorant,  is  as  absurd  as  to 
blame  a  man  for  witnessing  a  will  written  in  a  language  which  he 
does  not  know.  All  that  the  judge  or  commissioner  has  to  do  is 
to  satisfy  himself  that  the  deponent  swears  that  the  contents  of 
his  affidavit,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  true.  All  that  he  need 
know  of  the  deponent's  language  is  enough  of  it  to  ask  him  if  the 
matter  of  his  affidavit  is  true  and  to  give  him  the  oath. "  It  has 
been  proved  that  Impey  knew  much  more  Persian  and  Hindustani 
than  was  necessary  for  this  purpose,  and  he  declared  in  his  evi- 
dence on  the  subject  that  he  did  ask  the  nineteen  deponents  to 
the  Persian  affidavits  whether  the  contents  of  their  affidavits  were 
true.  If  Macaulay  had  to  characterize  in  another  his  own  remark 
that  Impey  could  not  read  some  of  the  affidavits  "because  they 
were  in  the  dialects  of  northern  India  and  no  interpreter  was 
employed,"  we  should,  I  think  have  had  some  very  trenchant 
language.  Sir  J.  Stephen  deals  very  gently  with  the  matter  when 
he  says,  "All  the  affidavits  were  in  English  except  nineteen  in 
Persian,  one  Persian  translation  of  a  Hindustani  original,  and  one 
in  French.  Not  one  was  in  any  'dialect  of  upper  India.'  This 
assertion  is  remarkable,  because  it  is  an  error  upon  an  error.  In 
his  original  review  Macaulay  said,  *  the  greater  part  (of  the  affi- 
davits) indeed  he  could  not  read,  for  they  were  in  Persian  and 
Hindustani. '  On  learning  from  Mr.  Macf arlane's  work  that  Impey 
knew  Persian,  the  passage  was  altered  to  the  incorrect  form  in 
which  I  have  quoted  it,  a  false  premiss  being  substituted  for  one 
which  was  half  true,  in  order  to  suggest  a  conclusion  wholly  false 
— namely,  that  Impey  was  unable  to  read  the  affidavits. "   Impey's 

*  The  Story  of  Nuncomar,  etc.,  ii.  265-7. 


APPENDIX  III.  225 

action  in  the  matter  may  have  shown  an  undue  eagerness  to  serve 
an  old  friend.  But  it  may  also  have  been  due,  as  he  himself 
asserted,  to  public  spirit ;  and  the  circumstances  in  which  Eng- 
lishmen in  India  were  situated  at  that  period  were  very  different 
from  those  as  we  know  them  now.  Even  if  Impey  be  thought 
somewhat  officious  in  the  matter,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
in  those  times  "the  taking  of  voluntary  affidavits,  not  in  any 
judicial  proceedings,  but  for  the  purpose  of  attesting  matters  of 
fact  which  any  one  wished  to  authenticate  was  very  common. 
Impey 's  act  ...  had  no  greater  and  no  less  legal  significance  than 
his  asking  the  deponents  whether  what  they  said  was  true  would 
have  had.  As  far  as  the  law  went  any  private  person  might  have 
administered  the  oath  as  well  as  he.  His  office  and  dignity  no 
doubt  put  on  record  the  fact  that  the  oath  was  taken  with  more 
emphasis  than  Middleton  or  Hannay  could  have  given  to  it,  but 
an  affidavit  on  such  a  matter  sworn  by  either  of  them  would  be 
legally  neither  better  nor  worse  than  one  sworn  before  Impey.  I 
think  indeed  that  the  mere  taking  of  the  affidavits  would  not 
have  been  charged  against  him  as  an  offence  if  it  had  not  been 
regarded  as  an  overt  act  of  a  conspiracy  between  him  and  Hast- 
ings to  plunder  the  Begums." 

I  have  now  gone  through  all  the  controversial  matters  which 
were  too  long  to  be  discussed  in  my  Notes.  But  fully  as  I  have 
endeavoured  to  set  them  forth  in  the  limits  allowed  me,  I  am  well 
aware  that  I  have  done  very  imperfect  justice  to  the  narratives  of 
Sir  John  Strachey  and  Sir  James  Stephen.  The  work  of  the  former 
is,  however,  an  octavo  volume  of  three  hundred  and  more  pages, 
while  that  of  the  latter  extends  to  nearly  six  hundred  pages  of  a 
not  much  smaller  size.  With  such  abundance  of  material  before 
me — all  of  it  thoroughly  germane  to  the  matter — it  has  been  by 
no  means  easy  to  pick  out  what  was  most  essential  to  my  purpose, 
and  it  is  quite  possible  that  in  other  hands  the  work  of  selection 
would  have  been  made  with  greater  judgment. 


APPENDIX  IV. 

THE  RISE    GROWTH,   AND  DECLINE  OF  THE 
marAtha  POWERS. 

In  Macaulay's  Essays  on  Clive  and  Hastings  mention  of  the 
Marathas  is  necessarily  frequent,  and  it  will  probably  be  con- 
venient to  students  to  have  some  connected  narrative  of  the  part 
they  have  played  in  Indian  history.  The  following  brief  sketch, 
taken  in  the  main  from  Mr.  H.  G.  Keene's  monograph  on  Mad- 


226  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

hava  Rao  Sindhia  and  Sir  A.  Lyall's  history  of  the  Rise  of  British 
Dominion  in  India,  will,  I  hope,  enable  them  to  follow  the  for- 
tunes of  this  race,  more  especially  in  regard  to  its  points  of  con- 
tact with  the  British  power. 

Maharashtra,  a  tract  of  country  bounded  on  the  west  by  the 
ocean,  on  the  north  by  the  Narbada,  on  the  east  by  the  Wain- 
ganga,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Krishna  rivers,  was  a  Hindu 
kingdom  in  very  early  times,  with  its  capital  at  Kalyan,  near  the 
modern  city  of  Bombay.  The  name  Marhat  for  its  inhabitants 
occurs  in  the  history  of  Muhammad  Tughlak  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  shortly  afterwards  we  find  mention  of  them  in  con- 
nection with  the  Musalman  kingdom  of  Bijapur,  where  they  were 
known  as  light  cavalry,  and  seem  to  have  taught  the*  Bijapur 
Musalmans  that  system  of  guerilla  warfare  to  which  the  kingdom 
owed  its  ability  to  resist  its  enemies  for  nearly  two  hundred 
years.  But  the  growth  of  this  extraordinary  race  dates  from  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Shah  Jahan,  and  the  period  which  will  be 
dealt  with  in  this  sketch  extends  only  from  about  1650  to  1818. 
Shah  Jahan's  efforts  to  overthrow  the  Bijapur  dynasty  brought 
about  the  first  troubles.  At  that  time  the  nominal  ruler  of  Bija- 
pur was  a  minor,  and  the  regency  was  held  by  a  Maratha  captain, 
Shahji  Bhonsla.  Shahji  resisted  Shah  Jahan's  attempts,  and 
from  this  period  the  Marathas  began  to  assert  themselves  as 
a  distinct  power.  Their  activity  was  first  shown  in  raids  upon 
immediate  neighbours,  but  these  were  mere  spasmodic  acts  of 
plunder  directed  by  no  systematic  policy.  When,  however, 
the  Muslim  power  in  the  Dakhan  began  to  crumble  to  pieces 
they  adopted  wider  aims,  and  fully  organized  the  practice  of 
levying  contributions  on  the  subjects  of  other  states,  till  at 
last  their  incursions  came  to  spread  over  almost  the  whole 
peninsula.  It  was  not  territorial  power,  at  all  events  until  a 
much  later  period,  that  they  desired.  The  elaborate  require- 
ments of  ordered  rule  they  gladly  left  to  others,  so  long  as  a 
descent  upon  fertile  provinces  and  rich  hoards  gave  them  booty 
to  be  squandered  in  reckless  enjoyment,  and  means  for  the  sub- 
sistence of  an  ever  increasing  host  of  free  lances.  The  black-mail 
they  modestly  exacted  was  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  revenue 
of  the  invaded  territory,  and  so  merciless  was  their  style  of  war- 
fare, and  so  swift  and  irresistible  their  swoop,  that  for  the  most 
part  no  serious  effort  was  made  to  escape  their  exactions.  The 
germs  of  an  organization,  which  in  its  development  made  the 
Marathas  the  most  formidable  power  the  English  later  on  had 
to  reckon  with,  were  planted  by  Shahji's  son  Sivaji,  who  raised 
a  regularly  paid  army,  possessed  himself  of  forts,  and  finally 
assumed  the  functions  and  insignia  of  a  king.  So  large  a  stride 
towards  consolidation  was  made  under  his  rule  that  at  the  death 
of  Aurangzeb,  or  shortly  afterwards,  the  civil  administration  of 
the   Hindus   in   Maharashtra    had    developed   into  a  wrell-knit 


APPENDIX  IV.  227 

power.  Under  the  Raja,  its  nominal  head,  was  a  council  of 
eight,  whose  president  bore  the  title  of  Peshwa.  The  first  of 
these  Peshwas  was  Balaji  Viswanath,  who  had  entered  the 
service  of  Sahu,  Sivaji's  grandson.  By  his  conspicuous  business 
abilities  he  shortly  became  the  most  important  person  in  the 
government,  and  vigorously  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of 
confirming  order  and  a  settled  system  of  rule  in  Maharashtra. 
The  right  to  levy  chauth  in  the  six  imperial  provinces  of  the 
Dakhan  had  been  formally  ceded  to  Sahu  in  1709.  This  con- 
cession was  confirmed  to  Balaji,  and  in  return  the  Raja  of 
Maharashtra  was  bound  to  pay  a  fixed  annual  cess  to  the  imperial 
treasury,  and  to  provide  the  emperor  with  a  specified  force  of 
Marathas  whenever  called  upon  to  do  so.  The  Raja  was  in  fact 
to  be  nominally  a  vassal  of  the  emperor,  but  the  compact  gave  to 
Balaji's  schemes  a  firmness  of  foundation  they  had  hitherto  lacked. 
In  the  midst  of  his  efforts  at  consolidation  of  power,  Balaji  died 
in  1720,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Baji  Rao,  a  man  even  more 
remarkable  than  his  father,  and  with  wider  range  of  ambition. 
He  aimed,  indeed,  at  supreme  power  in  Hindustan,  entered  into 
a  long  war  with  the  Nizam-ul-mulk  in  the  south,  made  himself 
master  of  the  rich  provinces  of  Malwa  and  Orissa,  and  attempted 
the  conquest  of  the  Karnatak.  He  also  contrived  to  acquire  for 
his  descendants  the  office  of  Peshwa  as  an  hereditary  dignity, 
and  the  leadership  of  the  Maratha  confederation  which  was 
shortly  to  branch  out  in  four  principal  chief  ships,  that  of  the 
Bhonsla  Raja  in  Berar,  the  Gaekwar  in  Baroda,  Holkar  in  the 
south  of  Malwa,  and  Sindhia  in  the  north-east  of  the  same  pro- 
vince. But  a  severe  reverse  was  in  store  for  the  Marathas.  Success 
had  tempted  them  too  far ;  for  the  Mughal  power  being  shat- 
tered, and  Ahmad  the  Abdali  having  retired  to  Afghanistan  with 
his  plunder  of  Dehli  and  the  Pan  jab,  Raghunath  Rao,  brother  of 
Baji  Rao,  supported  by  the  contingents  of  Sindhia  and  Holkar, 
marched  northward,  seized  Dehli,  pushed  on  to  Lahore,  drove 
out  the  governor  left  by  Ahmad,  and  substituted  a  Maratha 
administration  in  the  Panjab.  This  insolence  was  too  much  for 
Ahmad.  In  the  winter  of  1759-60  he  came  sweeping  down  into 
the  Panjab,  retook  Lahore,  drove  the  Marathas  out  of  the  north- 
ern country,  and  defeated  Holkar  and  Sindhia  with  heavy  loss. 
The  Peshwa  despatched  from  Puna  a  large  force  to  repair  these 
disasters,  and  in  January,  1761,  the  Afghans  with  their  Musal- 
man  allies  met  the  Marathas  on  the  field  of  Panipat.  The  result 
was  a  decisive  victory  for  the  Afghans,  and  the  Marathas  were 
for  the  time  swept  out  of  Northern  India.  The  defeat  was  a 
crushing  blow  to  Baji  Rao,  and  he  died  in  the  following  June  of 
a  broken  heart.  His  mantle  fell  on  the  celebrated  Madhava  Rao, 
otherwise  called  Madhoji,  an  illegitimate  son  of  the  slipper-bearer, 
Ranoji  Sindhia,  who  for  his  fidelity  to  Balaji  Viswanath  had 
obtained  a  fief  in  Northern  Malwa  and  made  Ujjain  his  head 


228  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

quarters.  During  the  next  dozen  years  the  various  Maratha 
powers  rapidly  recovered  from  the  blow  inflicted  on  them  at 
Panipat,  and  were  soon  threatening  every  prince  and  state  in 
India  from  the  Satlaj  river  southward  to  Cape  Comorin.  In 
Western  India  they  were  supreme ;  in  Rajputana  and  Central 
India  they  plundered  at  their  leisure,  and  they  were  incessantly 
making  predatory  incursions  north-eastward  into  the  fertile 
plains  watered  by  the  Ganges  and  the  Jamna  to  harry  the  lands 
of  the  Oudh  Wazir,  of  the  Pathan  settlement  in  Rohilkhand,  and 
of  the  Musalman  chiefships  about  Dehli,  Agra,  and  Allahabad. 
In  1771  they  were  demanding  the  surrender  of  Kora  and  Alla- 
habad made  over  to  the  emperor  by  the  East  India  Company 
in  return  for  his  grant  of  the  Diwani,  and  in  1773  they  came 
into  collision  with  the  English  by  threatening  the  territory 
of  the  Rohillas,  and  though  driven  back  they  still  remained  a 
menace  to  the  English  frontier.  A  much  more  serious  struggle 
with  the  English  power  was  soon  to  be  entered  upon  in  Western 
India.  There  a  Maratha  chief,  Raghunath  Rao,  who  had  been 
deposed  from  power  at  Puna,  sought  aid  from  the  Company, 
and  this  the  Bombay  Government  unwisely  promised  on  con- 
dition of  his  ceding  the  district  of  Bassein  and  the  island  of 
Salsette.  The  result  was  a  protracted  and  unsatisfactory  contest 
with  the  chief  Maratha  powers  in  which  the  English,  weakly 
led,  blundered  from  one  expedition  to  another,  found  themselves 
unable  to  restore  their  protege,  and  gained  nothing  but  the 
enduring  resentment  of  the  Marathas,  who  might  much  better 
have  been  left  to  settle  their  quarrels  among  themselves.  So 
wide,  moreover,  was  their  range  of  operations  that  the  English 
had  to  encounter  them  in  the  south,  where  they  took  the  side  of 
England's  inveterate  enemy,  Haidar  Ali,  at  the  same  time  that 
Sindhia  was  threatening  in  the  north-west,  and  the  Peshwa  was 
equally  active  near  Bombay.  Sindhia  was  by  this  time  fast 
becoming  the  most  powerful  chief  of  the  confederation,  and  had 
extended  his  conquests  from  Central  India  northward  towards 
Agra  and  Dehli.  In  the  collision  which  took  place  with  the 
English  his  fortress  at  Gwaliar  was  captured  ;  and  Sindhia,  never 
very  eager  to  match  himself  against  a  power  which  he  hoped 
might  be  useful  to  him  as  an  ally  in  the  wide-reaching  aims  of  his 
ambition,  was  not  unwilling  to  come  to  terms.  Pb  was  arranged, 
therefore,  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  prosecute  his  designs  upon 
those  portions  of  country  round  Dehli  which  were  still  retained 
by  the  Mughal  emperor,  on  condition  of  his  mediating  between 
the  English  and  the  Maratha  confederates.  By  the  treaty  of 
Salbai,  in  which  the  English  had  to  make  considerable  sacrifices, 
the  war  came  to  an  end,  Gwaliar  and  Ujjain,  together  with  all 
his  previous  possessions  south  and  west,  being  restored  to  Sindhia. 
From  this  time  forward  till  his  death  Sindhia  stands  out  as  the 
prominent  figure  of  Maratha  power  and  influence.     One  by  one 


APPENDIX  IV.  229 

his  chief  opponents,  the  Jats,  Rajputs,  Pathans,  Rathors,  and 
Musalmans  yielded  to  his  arms  or  to  his  policy.  By  1792  he  had 
wrung  from  the  Mughal  emperor  the  title  of  Vicegerent  of  the 
empire,  the  whole  powers  of  which  he  thenceforth  virtually 
wielded  as  his  own,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  shattered 
the  forces  of  his  great  rival  in  the  Maratha  confederation,  Holkar 
of  Indor.  Early,  however,  in  1794  his  life  came  to  a  sudden  end, 
and  the  English  were  freed  from  a  presence,  which,  if  actively 
arrayed  against  them,  might  have  had  serious  consequences  to 
the  consolidation  of  their  mastery  in  India.  Madhaji  Sindhia's 
power  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  grand-nephew,  Daulat  Rao  ; 
but  his  death  by  no  means  marked  any  collapse  of  Maratha 
activity.  In  1795  their  ubiquitous  forces  marched  down  upon 
the  Nizam  at  Haidarabad,  dispersed  his  army,  and  forced  him  to 
an  ignominious  surrender.  In  1798  Daulat  Rao  Sindhia  was 
firmly  established  at  Puna,  and  was  the  most  considerable  prince 
in  Central  and  Northern  India.  Holkar  and  the  Raja  of  Nagpur 
were  masters  of  large  forces  and  extensive  territory,  and  none  of 
them  had  forgotten  their  hostility  to  the  English.  What  might 
have  been  the  result  of  a  general  combination  can  only  be  sur- 
mised. But,  fortunately  for  the  British  power  in  India,  no  such 
policy  prevailed.  On  the  contrary,  in  1801  Sindhia,  Holkar,  and 
the  Raja  of  Nagpur  were  at  each  other's  throats  in  a  fierce  struggle 
for  supremacy.  There  was  also  bitter  enmity  between  the  Peshwa 
and  Holkar  ;  and  when  in  1803  Sindhia  came  to  the  assistance  of 
the  former,  a  great  battle  ensued  in  which  the  allied  armies  were 
utterly  crushed.  The  result  was  one  by  which  Lord  Wellesley, 
then  Governor-General,  took  care  to  profit.  For  the  Peshwa  now 
sued  to  the  English  for  their  help,  and  taking  refuge  at  Bassein, 
close  to  Bombay,  signed  a  treaty  of  general  defensive  alliance 
with  the  British  government,  under  which  a  strong  subsidiary 
force,  to  be  furnished  by  the  English  and  paid  by  the  Peshwa, 
was  to  be  permanently  stationed  within  his  territory,  and  all  his 
foreign  relations  were  to  be  subordinated  to  the  policy  of  England. 
The  remaining  Maratha  powers,  however,  still  had  to  be  dealt 
with.  And  they  now  broke  out  into  open  hostilities,  the  chief  of 
Nagpur  organizing  a  league  against  the  English,  and  with  Sindhia 
marching  up  to  the  frontier  of  Haidarabad.  Holkar  refused  to 
join  the  league,  and  the  Gaekwar  held  aloof.  The  confederates 
therefore  paused,  hoping  to  win  over  Holkar.  But  Lord  Welles  - 
ley,  who  was  as  anxious  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis  as  they  were 
to  gain  time,  gave  orders  to  General  Wellesley,  who  was  facing 
Sindhia  in  the  west,  and  to  General  Lake,  who  was  moving  upon 
Sindhia's  possessions  in  the  north-west,  to  press  the  war  with 
vigour.  Accordingly  General  Wellesley  called  upon  Sindhia  and 
the  Nagpur  Raja  to  withdraw  their  army  from  the  Nizam's 
borders.  This  they  refused  to  do,  and  the  consequence  was  the 
battle  of  Assaye  in  which  Wellesley  obtained  a  decisive  victory. 


230  WARREN  HASTINGS. 

He  next  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  upon  the  troops  of  the  Nagpur 
Raja  at  Argaon,  and  took  by  storm  the  hill  forts  of  Gawilgarh. 
Lake  was  equally  active  in  the  north-west.  He  took  Aligarh  by 
assault,  dispersed  Sindhia's  force  before  Dehli,  besieged  and  cap- 
tured Agra,  and  finally  at  Laswari  routed  the  last  of  Sindhia's 
regular  army.  "  The  result,"  says  Sir  A.  Lyall,*  "  of  these  well- 
contested  and  hardly  won  victories  was  to  shatter  the  whole 
military  organization  upon  which  Sindia's  predominance  had 
been  built  up,  to  break  down  his  connection  with  the  Moghul 
court  in  the  north,  and  to  destroy  his  influence  at  Poona  as  the 
most  formidable  member  of  the  Maratha  confederacy.  Both 
Sindia  and  the  Nagpore  Raja,  finding  themselves  in  imminent 
danger  of  losing  all  their  possessions,  acquiesced  reluctantly  in 
the  terms  that  were  dictated  to  them  after  the  destruction  of 
their  armies.  The  treaty  of  Bassein  was  formally  recognized  ; 
they  entered  into  defensive  treaties  and  made  large  cessions  of 
territory.  Sindia  gave  up  to  the  British  all  his  northern  dis- 
tricts lying  along  both  sides  of  the  Jumna  river ;  he  ceded  his 
sea-ports  and  his  conquests  on  the  west  coast ;  he  made  over  to 
them  the  city  of  Delhi  and  the  custody  of  the  Mogul  emperor ; 
he  dismissed  all  his  French  officers,  and  accepted  the  establish- 
ment, at  his  cost,  of  a  large  British  force  to  be  stationed  near  his 
frontier.  The  Raja  of  Nagpore  restored  Berar  to  the  Nizam,  and 
surrendered  to  the  British  government  the  province  of  Cuttack, 
on  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  which  lay  interposed  between  the  upper 
districts  of  Madras  and  the  south-western  districts  of  Bengal." 
Holkar  still  remained  to  be  reckoned  with.  He  had  been  hoping 
to  profit  by  Sindhia's  discomfiture,  and  now  thought  to  take 
advantage  of  his  defenceless  condition.  He  was,  therefore,  sum- 
moned by  Lake  to  retire  within  his  own  territories,  and  on  his 
refusal  was  attacked  by  the  British  troops.  Although  for  a  time 
Holkar  had  followed  Sindhia's  example  of  maintaining  a  staff  of 
European  officers  and  of  drilling  his  troops  after  the  European 
fashion,  he  had  before  this  returned  to  the  traditional  Maratha 
tactics  of  rapid  cavalry  movements.  His  object  was  to  evade  a 
regular  engagement,  and  it  was  not  without  a  prolonged  effort  that 
Lake  surprised  and  finally  dispersed  his  bands.  Holkar  at  last 
took  refuge  in  the  Panjab,  whence  he  returned  only  to  sign  a  treaty 
on  terms  similar  to  those  imposed  upon  Sindhia  and  the  Nagpur 
Raja.  For  some  years  there  was  peace  between  the  English  and 
the  Marathas.  But  in  1816  the  Bhonsla  Raja  of  Nagpur,  with 
whom  Lord  Hastings  had  concluded  a  subsidiary  treaty  detaching 
him  from  the  Maratha  confederation,  repented  an  engagement 
which  tied  his  hands,  and  began  to  concert  hostile  measures  with 
the  Peshwa,  who  also  was  impatient  of  the  restrictions  placed 
upon  him  by  alliance  with  the  English.     The  latter,  however, 

*  Rise  of  the  British  Dominion  in  India,  pp.  227,  8. 


APPENDIX  IV.  231 

before  actually  plunging  into  another  struggle  realized  the  danger 
he  incurred  of  being  stripped  of  all  his  possessions,  and  again 
entered  into  negotiations  with  the  English  whereby,  in  exchange 
for  an  increased  subsidiary  force,  he  made  further  cessions  of 
territory,  and  virtually  renounced  all  pretensions  to  supremacy 
in  the  Maratha  confederation.  His  good  faith  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. In  the  following  year  he  broke  into  open  hostility  and 
attacked  the  British  troops  at  Puna,  the  Nagpur  Raja  imitating 
him  in  his  outbreak.  Their  combination  quickly  proved  in- 
effectual. The  Peshwa  was  routed  and  his  forts  seized.  In  1818 
he  surrendered,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  territories  passed 
under  the  British  sovereignty,  he  being  allowed  to  reside  at 
Bithiir  on  a  pension  of  £80,000  a  year,  the  non-continuance  of 
which  after  his  death  made  an  enemy  of  his  adopted  son,  Dhundu 
Panth,  commonly  known  as  "Nana  Sahib."  The  Nagpur  State 
had  also  to  cede  several  important  districts,  and  thenceforth  the 
Maratha  powers  ceased  to  exist  except  as  feudatories  of  the 
British  rule. 


INDEX  TO  NOTES. 


A. 

Affidavits,  81,  1. 

Alguazils,  59,  23. 

Ali  Vardi  Khan,  7,  27. 

Allahabad,  25,  29. 

Articles    of    charge,    Burke's, 

102,  3. 
Asaph-ud-Dowla,  77,  11. 
Asiatic  Society,  the,  87,  26. 
Assizes,  41,  1. 
Augustulus,  15,  29. 
Aurungabad,  53,  8. 
Aurungzebe,  26,  31. 

B. 

Bacon,  Lord,  110,  32. 

Bang,  53,  3. 

Bar,  of  House  of  Commons,  108, 

6. 
Barrators,  58,  12. 
Bastile,  the,  101,  4. 
Bedloe,  37,  29. 
Beejapore,  53,  8. 
Begams  of  Oude,  77,  29. 
Berar,  49,  3. 
Black  Hole,  the,  8,  11. 
Bonaparte,  Louis,  68,  15 
Bonslas,  the,  52,  22. 
Bookmaker,  1,  13. 
Boroughs,  rotten,  10,  10. 
Bourne,  V.,  5,  22. 


Brooks's  Club,  96,  23. 
Buccaneer,  11,  12. 
Bunyan,  33,  33. 
Burgage,  97,  7. 


Cabul,  26,  24. 
Cadet,  15,  34. 
Calpe,  51,  34. 
Candahar,  26,  24. 
Capet,  Hugh,  68,  5. 
Caput  lupinum,  29,  8. 
Catchpoles,  59,  11. 
Catherine,  Empress,  27,  10. 
Cecilia,  Saint,  112,  12. 
Cervantes,  33,  34. 
Chait  Sing,  67,  1. 
Chatham,  Lord,  32,  35. 
Chequered,  5,  12. 
Churchill,  C,  5,  23. 
Clarkson,  98,  22. 
Clavering,  General,  32,  8. 
Coalition,  the,  96,  20. 
Cold  steel,  31,  4. 
Colman,  G.,  5,  23. 
Commercial  Treaty,  the,   100, 

32. 
Comorin,  Cape,  26,  36. 
Control,  Board  of,  16,  10. 
Coote,  Sir  E.,  54,  18. 
Corah,  25,  30. 
Corneille,  33,  31. 


232 


INDEX  TO  NOTES. 


233 


Cosmo  de'  Medici,  i29,  24. 
Council,  a  member  of,  9,  5. 
Cowper,  5,  30,  33,  36. 
Cumberland,  R.,  5,  24. 

D. 

Dacca,  44,  12. 
Dangerfield,  37,  30. 
Daylesford  Church,  129,  8. 
Delta  of  the  Ganges,  72,  20. 
Depending  questions,  97,  7. 
Diplomatic,  16,  30. 
Directors,  Court  of,  47,  21. 
Dodd,  Dr.,  100,  3. 
Double  Government,  21,  11. 
Downing  Street,  85,  6. 
Dupleix,  J.,  7,  14. 
Dutch  Company,  8,  8. 

F. 

Ferdusi,  12,  2. 
Forensic  acuteness,  93,  34. 
Francis,  32,  11  ;  62,  7. 
Foundation,  the,  6,  22. 
Fort  William,  7,  12. 
Frederick  II.  of  Prussia,  127,  6. 
Furor  Biographicus,  2,  6. 
Fyzabad,  77,  7. 

G. 

Galaxy,  97,  5. 
Galleon,  11,  2. 
Gleig,  G.  R.,  1,  1. 
Goddard,  Colonel,  54,  9. 
Goitre,  2,  7. 
Golcbnda,  66,  35. 
Gordon,  Lord  G.,  100,  2. 
GrenvilleG.,  35,  3. 
Guicowar,  the,  52,  34. 
Guildhall,  the,  128,  17. 


Hafiz,  12,  2. 

Hastings,  Pynaston,  4,  13. 


Hastings,    Warren,    ancestors, 

3,  17,  etc. 

Hastings,  Warren,  birthplace, 

4,  18. 

Hastings,  Mrs.,  at  Court,  92, 

17. 
Hebrides,  Tour  in,  46,  31. 
Holkar,  52,  26. 
Holland,  Lord,  33,  2. 
Hussar-mongers,  28,  24. 
Hyphasis,  26,  12. 
Hystaspes,  26,  12. 


Imaum,  99,  20. 
Imhoff,  12,  27. 
Impey,  Sir  E.,  6,  14,  etc. 
India  Bill,  Pitt's,  16,  10. 
India  Bill,  Fox's,  95,  5. 
Ionian,  the,  17,  16. 
Ireland,  51,  30. 

J. 

Jefferies,  60,  23. 
Jeopardy,  51,  33. 
Junius,  Letters  of,  32,  23. 

K. 

Kumaon,  26,  30. 

L. 

Lahore,  26,  36. 
Lally,  54,  25. 
Lascars,  53,  36. 
Las  Casas,  98,  22. 
Leadenhall  Street,  20,  23. 
Legerdemain,  69,  30. 
Lely,  Sir  P.,  2,  32. 
Louis  the  Eleventh,  63,  9. 

M. 
Mahommedan  historian,  43,  1. 
Mahommed  Reza  Khan,  23,  5. 


234 


INDEX  TO  NOTES. 


Man  in  the  Mask,  33,  35. 
Man,  Whole  Duty  of,  The,  2,  2. 
Manor,  lord  of,  3,  25. 
Marie  Antoinette,  101,  5. 
Martel,  Charles,  15,  30. 
Mecca,  99,  21. 
Merovingians,  15,  29. 
Mesne  process,  57,  12. 
Mill,  History,  2,  27. 
Middlesex  election,  35,  6. 
Monson,  Colonel,  32,  8. 
Monsoon,  65,  I. 
Montague,  Mrs.,  112,  17. 
Moorshedabad,  15,  30. 
Mucius  Scsevola,  19,  5. 
Munny  Begum,  the,  22,  14. 

N. 

Newington,  5,  18. 
Nuncomar,  17,  29  ;  41,  3,  etc. 

0. 

Oates,  Titus,  37,  29. 

Odoacer,  15,  29. 

Ordinances  of  Charles  X.,  68, 

11. 
Oriels,  66,  16. 


Pageant,  69,  24. 
Pagodas,  12,  30. 
Pasquin,  123,  28. 
Pepin,  15,  30. 
Peshwa,  53,  5. 
Plate,  3,  32. 
Political,  16,  29. 
Pollilore,  55,  6. 
Pondicherry,  53,  31. 
Poonah,  53,  6. 
Porphyry,  20,  6. 
Porto  Novo,  55,  6. 
Prescription,  69,  2. 
Presidency,  a,  54,  3. 
Prince,  the,  2,  2. 
Pundits,  87,  31. 


Raghunath  Rao,  36,  19. 
Rectory,  a,  4,  6. 
Reynolds,  Sir  J.,  112,  1. 
Richelieu,  129,  23. 
Rohillas,  26,  36. 
Roi  faineant,  a,  53,  1. 
Rolliad,  the,  94,  18. 


Sandalwood,  91,  13. 
Sandwich,  Lord,  47,  27. 
Sarum,  Old,  34,  29. 
Sattara,  53,  4. 
Scindia,  52,  26. 
Sevajee,  52,  13. 
Siddons,  Mrs.,  Ill,  29. 
Somers,  Lord,  110,  33. 
Spunging-houses,  58,  15. 
Stamp  Act,  100,  24. 
Stoics,  the,  18,  33. 
Strafford,  Lord,  45,  13. 
Studentship,  6,  24. 
Succession,  War  of,  7,  16. 
Sujah  Dowlah,  27,  22. 
Sydney,  Algernon,  19,  6. 


Tacitus,  111,  34. 
Tamerlane,  52,  35. 
Tanjore,  52;  30. 
Teviotdale,  23,  26. 
Tissue,  18,  21. 
Tithes,  4,  10. 
Trianon,  66,  33. 
Trissotin,  126,  20. 
Tooke,  Home,  34,  2. 
Tulip-trees,  64,  9. 
Tyler,  Wat,  57,  32. 


Vansittart,  59,  33. 
Vernacular,  88,  28. 


INDEX  TO  NOTES. 


235 


Verres,  111,  33. 
Versailles,  117,  26. 
Vizier,  25,  23. 

W. 

Wandewash,  54,  26. 


Westminster  Hall,  57,  5  ;  115, 

17. 
Westminster  School,  5,  21. 
Wheedling,  40,  2. 
Wilkes,  35,  6. 
Woolsack,  the,  120,  18. 
Writership,  a,  7,  i. 


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